This was just sent in by ESA's Kristin Wirth, Rosetta Science Operations Manager at ESAC in Spain, near Madrid. ESAC is home to the Rosetta Science Operations Centre (RSOC), from where all scientific activities for the instruments are planned, managed and controlled. (The instruments on the Philae lander are operated by our colleagues at the German Aerospace Center/DLR, near Cologne, Germany). Thanks Kristin!

Kristin writes:

Here is a short report from the RSOC for the Rosetta blog. Update on experiment operations as of today:

• OSIRIS and NAVCAM took the regular navigation images last night. The 19th and final navigation slot will take place tonight.
• OSIRIS recorded a light curve of the unresolved asteroid yesterday. This observation was followed by a calibration using the star 16 Cyg.
• ALICE will perform the first part of its exosphere search today (14:30 - 22:45 UTC). The instrument will look for emission lines in the UV from a possible gas environment of Lutetia.
• The mass spectrometer ROSINA on the orbiter continues to investigate the outgassing of the asteroid.
• The mass spectrometer PTOLEMY on the lander conducted a background measurement yesterday.
• RPC powered on yesterday and started to study possible magnetic fields and plasma effects.

We'll post a more detailed listing of which instruments are actively involved in Lutetia flyby later today. -- Daniel

A quick snap of the Rosetta Flight Control Team in the Dedicated Control Room at ESOC this morning:

With the latest orbit determination and following the flight rules, there will be no manoeuvre [needed] at the TCM [trajectory correction manouevre] slot 40 hours before the flyby. Also, it is considered that there will be no need to use the manoeuvre slot at 12 hours before the flyby, unless a anything changes.

Basically, this news means that Rosetta is lined up on the correct trajectory to bring her to the desired fly-by point on 10 July. :-)

There is a very nice write-up in the Planetary Society blog today reporting on the Rosetta flyby:

Three days to Lutetia for Rosetta!
Jul. 7, 2010 | 06:34 PDT | 13:34 UTC

On July 10, 2010, at 15:44:56 UTC, the Rosetta spacecraft will fly within 3,162 kilometers of the largest asteroid yet visited by a spacecraft. Named (21) Lutetia, the 132-by-101-by-76-kilometer-diameter body is a puzzle to astronomers, who have been unable to determine its composition. Both the Rosetta orbiter and its still-attached Philae lander have a full slate of science observations planned for the encounter, which will serve both as a test of its instruments and procedures to prepare for its eventual cometary mission and as an opportunity to observe a unique solar system body.

This was sent in by the Flight Dynamics team at ESA/ESOC a couple hours ago - it is an image acquired by Rosetta's Navigation Camera A (NAVCAM A) on 6 July at 05:45:02 CEST as part of the continuing navigation campaign. The picture shows Lutetia as a bright point of light in the middle of the image. The distance to Lutetia from Rosetta was roughly 5.8 million km. Thanks, Sabine! (Click image for larger size)

This just in via email from Armelle Hubault, Rosetta Spacecraft Operations Engineer here at ESOC:

• ALICE is now off after having completed its calibration activities. The instrument will switch on again tomorrow to start acquiring science data.
• COSIMA is now off with dust collecting targets exposed.
• OSIRIS started measurements to produce a light-curve of the asteroid later today.
• ROSINA was switched on at 04:00z (06:00 CEST) this morning and will stay on until after the flyby to measure the gas environment around Lutetia.
• As you know, the Lander will go on today at 10:45z (12:45 CEST).
• RPC will also switch on today at 15:40z (17:40 CEST) and stay on until 13 July. RPC will measure the magnetosphere and the plasma environment of Lutetia.
• SREM is always on on Rosetta, monitoring the radiation environment around the spacecraft.

We've put together a simplified timeline showing some of the more interesting and critical events that are happening this week and on 'F-Day' - 10 July, when Rosetta makes closest approach to Lutetia.

Highlights include: ground stations passes using ESA and NASA deep-space antennas, Rosetta's famous 'flip' into its upside-down orientation for flyby mid-day on Saturday, loss and acquisition of signal and the start/pause/stop of the webcast live from ESA/ESOC.

Access the detailed timeline below under 'full story' -- Daniel

 Full story »

(Updated with animations 8 July) We've been speaking with a number of scientists on ESA's Herschel and Rosetta teams in the past few days to gather details on what has to be one of the most interesting aspects of the Lutetia flyby: ESA's Herschel Space Observatory will conduct joint observations with Rosetta on and around 10 July, providing a unique 'double view' of the enigmatic asteroid.

Left: Herschel; right: Rosetta at Lutetia credits: ESA/AOES medialab

In a classic case of 'one plus one equals more than two', the coordinated observations are expected to provide scientists with insights that couldn't be obtained using either spacecraft alone. Herschel's spectrometers will obtain remote far-infrared spectrum data - basically, a map of the thermal radiation emitted by Lutetia - averaged over most of the asteroid's surface, while Rosetta will obtain quick, up-close images and other data, which will later be correlated to characterize the asteroid's spectrum, shape and composition much more accurately than now known.

Full details after the jump - and make sure you scroll to the bottom to see a pair of very cool animations modelling what each of Rosetta and Herschel may 'see' -- Daniel 

 Full story »

Today's prediction on closest approach (CA) from ESA's Flight Dynamics team:

• Time of closest approach: 15:44:56 UTC (17:44:56 CEST) spacecraft event time --> add 25:21 min:sec to get 18:10:17 CEST ground event time
• Distance for closest approach: 3162 km from Lutetia

Note: All numbers are estimates and include uncertainties - and are subject to change

Payload activities with Rosetta's scientific instruments started today at 12:45 UTC (14:45 CEST) with the switch on of the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (ALICE). ALICE, which is one of NASA's contributions to Rosetta, can, for example, analyse gases or the surface composition of a body. The next instrument to switch on will be COSIMA (Cometary Secondary Ion Mass Analyser), which can analyse dust, tomorrow at 06:00 UTC (08:00 CEST). -- Daniel

A very informative article has just been published in the DLR (German Aerospace Center) website highlighting the observations planned for the Philae lander instruments on 10 July during Lutetia flyby:

At 100 kilometres in size, 21 Lutetia is one of the larger Main Belt Asteroids. The lander will investigate whether the asteroid has a magnetic field and an exosphere, and study their characteristics.

Philae will first be switched on between 12:45 and 15:05 CEST on 7 July so the team can prepare the lander for activities around closest approach. The lander will perform science observations on 10 July.

This observation sequence will take place during the asteroid flyby itself, with the lander switching on at 08:45 CEST on 10 July. It will be on throughout the flyby; closest approach is scheduled for 17:45 CEST. The lander and orbiter will be 3169 kilometres from Lutetia, according to recent estimates.

Access the full article via the DLR Portal here. -- Daniel

PS: Amruta, Peter, Henning and all the colleagues at DLR Web - great article, guys! :-)

This just in:: The Flight Dynamics team here at ESOC have confirmed that Rosetta is dead on track to rendezvous with asteroid Lutetia on 10 Jul at the planned time and, as a result, the manoeuvre slot that was available on Sunday, 4 July (~1 week prior to closest approach), will not be used. The current estimate for closest approach is now fixed as: 15:44:55.97 UTC (spacecraft event time).

There are additional manoeuvre slots available 3 days, 40 hours and 12 hours prior to closest approach; the team will assess whether these will be needed next week. -- Daniel
 

In no particular order, here are some interesting numbers concerning Rosetta flyby on 10 July. All figures gathered from operations planning and flight dynamics reports here at ESOC. To wit: As of 10 July, Rosetta will have already travelled over 5 billion km!! Phew..! -- DGS

Rosetta flyby by the numbers 

Note:

1. All figures cited as of the moment of closest approach unless otherwise noted.
2. All figures are estimates and may be off by a few percent.

• Rosetta/Lutetia separation:  3160 km
• Rosetta/Lutetia separation 18 minutes before closest approach:  16 400 km
• Rosetta distance from Earth:  455 815 621 km
• Rosetta distance from the Sun:  406 860 548 km
• One-way signal time (at light speed):  1520.55 seconds
• One-way signal time (at light speed):  00:25:21 hr:min:sec
• Closest approach time (at spacecraft):  15:44:56 UTC
• Closest approach time (on Earth):  16:10:17 UTC (latest estimate)
• Relative speed between Rosetta/Lutetia:  15.0 km/sec
• Rosetta elapsed travel distance as of 10.07 since launch (2 Mar 2004):  5 060 260 000 km

So, why the difference? (Details after the jump...) -- Daniel

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