General , Operations  05 November, 2009 16:56

Merci, Baptiste!

I got a note this morning from Rosetta Spacecraft Operations Engineer Sylvain Lodiot, who in turn received an email from a teenage friend of his from France, Baptiste. Sylvain wrote:

I received an email from a friend of mine (he is teenage and really keen on all ESA stuff). He says that he followed the blog live for the trajectory correction manoeuvre held on 22 October from school! Baptiste wishes us all the best for the manoeuvre today (which has been cancelled) - and the instrument switch ON starting on 6 November.

Thanks, Baptiste, for following Rosetta's progress - and please standby tomorrow for a more detailed listing of which instruments will be switched on and their planned targets (Merci, Baptiste, pour suivre les progrès de Rosetta - et s'il vous plaît attendre jusqu'à demain pour une liste plus détaillée des instruments qui seront allumés et leurs objectifs prévus). -- Daniel

 

 

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General , Operations , Flight Dynamics  05 November, 2009 16:51

Today's TCM not needed - Rosetta right on track

After the 86-second thruster burn on 22 October, Rosetta has lined up on a near-perfect Earth approach trajectory. Flight dynamics and mission control experts at ESOC, ESA's European Space Operations Centre, have determined that today's manoeuvre slot will not be used (click on 'Full story' for details). -- Daniel

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   Slideshow
Stunning image taken by the CIVA imaging instrument on Rosetta's Philae lander just 4 minutes before closest approach at a distance of some 1000 km from Mars. This picture of the Moon was taken by Rosetta’s navigation camera (NAVCAM) right after the comet chaser’s closest approach to our planet. The picture was taken at 00:10 CET on 14 November, as Rosetta’s second Earth swing-by concluded, while the spacecraft was flying at a height of about 6250 km from the surface. Credits: ESA During the swing-by, the Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS)on board Rosetta observed Earth’s night-side. The is a picture taken with the OSIRIS Wide Angle Camera (WAC), showing the same view seen in the OSIRIS Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) image. It is shown in false colour to emphasise city lights seen at night. This image was acquired on 13 November 2007 at 20:30 CET using the WAC with a red filter. Credits: ESA ©2005 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA Image of the Earth acquired with the OSIRIS narrow-angle camera from a distance of 633 000 km on 12 November 2009 at 13:28 CET. || The resolution is 12 km/pixel. || The image is a part of a sequence of images taken every hour through one full rotation (24 hours). The movie will be published later. || Three images with an orange, green, and blue filter were combined to create this one. The illuminated crescent is centered roughly around the South Pole (South at the bottom of the image). The outline of Antarctica is visible under the clouds that form the striking south-polar vortex. Pack ice in front of the coastline with its strong spectacular reflection is the cause for the very bright spots on the image. This image was taken by Rosetta’s navigation camera (NAVCAM) right after Rosetta’s closest approach to Earth. The picture was taken at 21:55 CET on 13 November, as Rosetta’s second Earth swing-by concluded, while the spacecraft was flying at a height of about 5500 km from the surface. Credits: ESA