Search Publications
MIDAS The Micro-Imaging Dust Analysis System for the Rosetta Mission
Steller, M.; Alleyne, H. St. C.; Ehrenfreund, P. +22 more
The International Rosetta Mission is set for a rendezvous with Comet 67 P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014. On its 10 year journey to the comet, the spacecraft will also perform a fly-by of the two asteroids Stein and Lutetia in 2008 and 2010, respectively. The mission goal is to study the origin of comets, the relationship between cometary and inter…
Interstellar Dust in the Solar System
Altobelli, Nicolas; Krüger, Harald; Grün, Eberhard +1 more
The Ulysses spacecraft has been orbiting the Sun on a highly inclined ellipse almost perpendicular to the ecliptic plane (inclination 79°, perihelion distance 1.3 AU, aphelion distance 5.4 AU) since it encountered Jupiter in 1992. The in situ dust detector on board continuously measured interstellar dust grains with masses up to 10-13 k…
Ptolemy an Instrument to Measure Stable Isotopic Ratios of Key Volatiles on a Cometary Nucleus
Andrews, D. J.; Leese, M. R.; Zarnecki, J. C. +17 more
A fundamental goal of cometary studies is to determine the exact relationship between these bodies and the Solar System - the question(s) can be summarised as follows: did comets originate during the same events that spawned the Sun and planets, are they more primitive bodies that record a pre-solar history, or are they interstellar materials coll…
Dust Environment Modelling of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Agarwal, Jessica; Grün, Eberhard; Müller, Michael
Dust is an important constituent of cometary emission; its analysis is one of the major objectives of ESA's Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (C-G). Several instruments aboard Rosetta are dedicated to studying various aspects of dust in the cometary coma, all of which require a certain level of exposure to dust to achieve their go…
The Rosetta Lander (``Philae'') Investigations
Bibring, J. -P.; Rosenbauer, H.; Boehnhardt, H. +17 more
The paper describes the Rosetta Lander named Philae and introduces its complement of scientific instruments. Philae was launched aboard the European Space Agency Rosetta spacecraft on 02 March 2004 and is expected to land and operate on the nucleus of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at a distance of about 3 AU from the Sun. Its overall mass is ~98 kg (p…
ROMAP: Rosetta Magnetometer and Plasma Monitor
Russell, C. T.; Kührt, E.; Richter, I. +18 more
The scientific objectives, design and capabilities of the Rosetta Lander's ROMAP instrument are presented. ROMAP's main scientific goals are longterm magnetic field and plasma measurements of the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in order to study cometary activity as a function of heliocentric distance, and measurements during the Lander…
Sesame - An Experiment of the Rosetta Lander Philae: Objectives and General Design
Schmidt, W.; Fischer, H. -H.; Seidensticker, K. J. +9 more
SESAME is an instrument complex built in international co-operation and carried by the Rosetta lander Philae intended to land on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014. The main goals of this instrument suite are to measure mechanical and electrical properties of the cometary surface and the shallow subsurface as well as of the particles emitted …
Civa
Bibring, J. -P.; Langevin, Y.; Poulet, F. +5 more
CIVA (Comet Infrared and Visible Analyser) is an integrated set of imaging instruments, designed to characterize the 360∘ panorama (CIVA-P) as seen from the Rosetta Lander Philae, and to study surface and subsurface samples (CIVA-M). CIVA-P is a panoramic stereo camera, while CIVA-M is an optical microscope coupled to a near infrared mi…
SD2 How To Sample A Comet
Olivieri, A.; Espinasse, S.; Finzi, A. Ercoli +6 more
SD2 (Sampler, Drill and Distribution System), is one of the instruments onboard the lander Philae of the Rosetta mission. This system is of primary importance for the lander mission since it is in charge to collect comet's soil samples at different depths and to distribute them to different instruments for analysis. SD2 has to meet very stringent …
Rosetta Radio Science Investigations (RSI)
Neubauer, Fritz M.; Tellmann, Silvia; Tsurutani, Bruce T. +29 more
The Rosetta spacecraft has been successfully launched on 2nd March 2004 to its new target comet 67 P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The science objectives of the Rosetta Radio Science Investigations (RSI) experiment address fundamental aspects of cometary physics such as the mass and bulk density of the nucleus, its gravity field, its interplanetary orbit…