[meteorite-list] Rosetta Comet Spreads Its Jets

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 16:35:14 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201410242335.s9ONZEs6010659_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4355

Rosetta Comet Spreads Its Jets
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
October 24, 2014

This image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, taken by Rosetta's
Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) on
Sept. 20, from a distance of 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers), shows jets of
dust and gas streaming into space from the neck of the comet's nucleus.

Images of the comet nucleus, taken by Rosetta earlier in the summer,
showed that the distinct jets of dust and gas emanating from the comet
were originated from the neck region, which connects the comet's two
lobes. Images obtained by OSIRIS now show jets of dust along almost the
entire length of the comet.

Rosetta and comet 67P are still more than 280 million miles (450 million
kilometers) from the sun. Based on a rich history of ground-based
observations, scientists have been expecting the comet's activity to
pick up noticeably once it comes within 186 million miles (300 million
kilometers).

On Nov. 12, the Rosetta spacecraft will release its Philae lander at
3:03 a.m. EST / 1:03 a.m. PST (Earth Receive Time). Touchdown of Philae
on Site J is expected about seven hours later, at around 11 a.m. EST / 8
a.m. PST. Rosetta is the first mission to attempt a soft landing on a comet.

While 67P's overall activity is clearly increasing, the mission's
designated landing site, "J," located on the head of the comet, still
seems to be rather quiet. However, there is some indication that new
active areas are waking up about half a mile (one kilometer) from J.
These will allow the lander's instruments to study the comet's activity
from an even closer distance.

Launched in March 2004, Rosetta was reactivated in January 2014 after a
record 957 days in hibernation. Composed of an orbiter and lander,
Rosetta's objectives since arriving at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
earlier this month have been to study the celestial object up close in
unprecedented detail, prepare for landing a probe on the comet's nucleus
in November and, following the landing, track the comet's changes as it
sweeps past the sun.

The scientific imaging system OSIRIS was built by a consortium led by
the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (Germany) in
collaboration with CISAS, University of Padova (Italy), the Laboratoire
d'Astrophysique de Marseille (France), the Instituto de Astrof??sica de
Andalucia, CSIC (Spain), the Scientific Support Office of the European
Space Agency (The Netherlands), the Instituto Nacional de T??cnica
Aeroespacial (Spain), the Universidad Polit??chnica de Madrid (Spain),
the Department of Physics and Astronomy of Uppsala University (Sweden),
and the Institute of Computer and Network Engineering of the TU
Braunschweig (Germany). OSIRIS was financially supported by the national
funding agencies of Germany (DLR), France (CNES), Italy (ASI), Spain
(MEC), and Sweden (SNSB) and the ESA Technical Directorate.

Rosetta is a European Space Agency mission with contributions from its
member states and NASA. Rosetta's Philae lander is provided by a
consortium led by the German Aerospace Center, Cologne; Max Planck
Institute for Solar System Research, Gottingen; National Center of Space
Studies of France (CNES), Paris; and the Italian Space Agency, Rome.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, a division of
the California Institute of Technology, manages the U.S. participation
in the Rosetta mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information on the U.S. instruments aboard Rosetta, visit:

http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov

More information about Rosetta is available at:

http://www.esa.int/rosetta


Media Contact

DC Agle
818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle at jpl.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown
202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov

Markus Bauer
011-31-71-565-6799
European Space Agency, Noordwijk, Netherlands
markus.bauer at esa.int

2014-374
Received on Fri 24 Oct 2014 07:35:14 PM PDT