General , Operations  04 September, 2008 16:48

TCM complete

Results from today's trajectory correction manouevre and the navigation image download are now being analysed by ESOC Flight Dynamics. We'll know later whether the last TCM slot tomorrow morning will be used.

Update @ 18:00 CEST - Just got a note from the Rosetta DCR - results from today's analysis show that tonmorrow's final TCM slot may not be needed. More details in the AM. -- Daniel

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General , Operations  04 September, 2008 10:46

Rosetta Dedicated Control Room 10:08 CEST

Rosetta DCR, 4 Sep 2008, 10:05 CESTSpacecraft Operations Engineers Sylvain Lodiot (background) and Roberto Porta (foreground) at work this AM in the Rosetta Dedicated Control Room (DCR), ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany. Both were waiting for AOS (acquisition of signal) for the next ground station pass - to start receiving results of today's TCM. -- Daniel
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General , Operations  04 September, 2008 10:19

Rosetta trajectory correction manoeuvre now underway

Today's TCM is now running!

I just had an update from ESA Spacecraft Operations Manager Andrea Accomazzo here at ESOC. He says today's target delta-v (change in velocity) is 11.8 cm/sec in the direction perpendicular to the line of flight. Everything on board the spacecraft is operating nominally, and the results if the TCM will be received (acquisition of signal) starting at 08:56 UT spacecraft time, which is 09:16 UT Earth receive time - which is 11:16 CEST (there's a 20-min one-way signal time at Rosetta's current distance from Earth).

The downlinked telemetry from this pass will include ranging data and more images as part of the still-ongoing optical navigation campaign.

The Flight Dynamics team here at ESOC will asses the results of today's TCM and later this afternoon let the Flight Control team know if the final TCM slot, Friday, just 12 hours prior to closest approach, will be used (click on 'Full story' for more details on today's TCM goals including a chart showing the target plane). -- Daniel

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This is a composite of four images combined to show the illuminated crescent of Earth and the cities of the northern hemisphere. The images were acquired with the OSIRIS Wide Angle Camera (WAC) during Rosetta’s second Earth swing-by on 13 November. This image showing islands of light created by human habitation was taken with the OSIRIS WAC at 19:45 CET, about 2 hours before the closest approach of the spacecraft to Earth. At the time, Rosetta was about 80 000 km above the Indian Ocean where the local time approached midnight (the angle between Sun, Earth and Rosetta was about 160°). The image was taken with a five-second exposure of the WAC with the red filter. This image showing Earth’s illuminated crescent was taken with the WAC at 20:05 CET as Rosetta was about 75 000 km from Earth. The crescent seen is around Antarctica. The image is a colour composite combining images obtained at various wavelengths. Credits: ESA ©2005 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/ UPM/DASP/IDA 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. 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 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 This picture of the Moon was taken with the OSIRIS Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) at 07:36 CET on 13 November. This was about nine hours after Rosetta's closest approach to Earth. OSIRIS has been designed to image faint objects, so a neutral density filter was placed in the optical path to reduce the sensitivity of the camera to one fiftieth. The above image was acquired through the far-focus red filter of the camera (750 nanometres). Credits: ESA ©2007 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA