Search Publications
Anomalous Orbital-Energy Changes Observed during Spacecraft Flybys of Earth
Anderson, John D.; Campbell, James K.; Ekelund, John E. +2 more
We report and characterize anomalous orbital-energy changes observed during six Earth flybys by the Galileo, NEAR, Cassini, Rosetta, and MESSENGER spacecraft. These anomalous energy changes are consistent with an empirical prediction formula which is proportional to the total orbital energy per unit mass and which involves the incoming and outgoin…
A Global Kinetic Model for Cometary Comae: The Evolution of the Coma of the Rosetta Target Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko throughout the Mission
Tenishev, Valeriy; Combi, Michael; Davidsson, Björn
The Rosetta spacecraft is en route to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for a rendezvous, landing, and extensive orbital phase beginning in 2014. Model studies of the coma will be required not only for planning of the mission and interpretation of spacecraft data, but also for an expectedly large amount of complementary remote observational data tha…
Asteroids 2867 Steins and 21 Lutetia: surface composition from far infrared observations with the Spitzer space telescope
Jorda, L.; Lamy, P. L.; Barucci, M. A. +8 more
Aims:The aim of this paper is to investigate the surface composition of the two asteroids 21 Lutetia and 2867 Steins, targets of the Rosetta space mission.
Methods: We observed the two asteroids through their full rotational periods with the Infrared Spectrograph of the Spitzer Space Telescope to investigate the surface properties. The analysi…
Cometary dust trail associated with Rosetta mission target: 67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko
Ishiguro, Masateru
A thin, bright dust cloud, which is associated with the Rosetta mission target object (67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko), was observed after the 2002 perihelion passage. The neckline structure or dust trail nature of this cloud is controversial. In this paper, we definitively identify the dust trail and the neckline structure using a wide-field CCD camer…
Visible and near infrared spectroscopic investigation of E-type asteroids, including 2867 Steins, a target of the Rosetta mission
Barucci, M. A.; Fornasier, S.; Dotto, E. +1 more
We present the results of a visible spectroscopic survey of igneous asteroids belonging to the small and intriguing E-class, including 2867 Steins, a target of the Rosetta mission. The survey was carried out at the 3.5 m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), and at the 3.5 m New Technology Telescope (NTT) of the European Southern Observatory. We obt…
The dust trail of Comet 67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko
Reach, William T.; Kelley, Michael S.; Lien, David J.
We report the detection of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's dust trail and nucleus in 24 µm Spitzer Space Telescope images taken February 2004. The dust trail is not found in optical Palomar images taken June 2003. Both the optical and infrared images show a distinct neck-line tail structure, offset from the projected orbit of the comet. We…
Structure and density of cometary nuclei
Weissman, Paul R.; Lowry, Stephen C.
Understanding the nature of the cometary nucleus remains one of the major problems in solar system science. Whipple’s (1950) icy conglomerate model has been very successful at explaining a range of cometary phenomena, including the source of cometary activity and the nongravitational orbital motion of the nuclei. However, the internal structure of…
Capabilities of Philae, the Rosetta Lander
Biele, J.; Ulamec, S.
In situ (and sample return) space missions are the most promising tools to investigate the origin and evolution of comet nuclei. We present the instruments and investigations that will be performed with PHILAE (the ROSETTA Lander) on comet 67P Churyumov Gerasimenko, starting in November 2014, ten years after launch. The rationale and the performan…
Results from the ESA SREM monitors and comparison with existing radiation belt models
Nieminen, P.; Hajdas, W.; Bühler, P. +3 more
The Standard Radiation Environment Monitor (SREM) is a simple particle detector developed for wide application on ESA satellites. It measures high-energy protons and electrons of the space environment with a 20° angular resolution and limited spectral information. Of the ten SREMs that have been manufactured, four have so far flown. The first mode…
Heterogeneous solid/gas chemistry of organic compounds related to comets, meteorites, Titan, and Mars: Laboratory and in lower Earth orbit experiments
Szopa, C.; Cottin, H.; Coll, P. +14 more
To understand the evolution of organic molecules involved in extraterrestrial environments and with exobiological implications, many experimental programs in the laboratory are devoted to photochemical studies in the gaseous phase as well as in the solid state. The validity of such studies and their applications to extraterrestrial environments ca…