Rosetta Blog

Rosetta Blog http://webservices.esa.int/blog/blog/5 Coverage of the Rosetta mission as she makes a series of complex gravity assist manoeuvres around Earth (Mar 2005, Nov 2007, Nov 2009) and Mars (Feb 2007), plus the exciting encounters with Asteroids Steins (Sep 2008) and Lutetia (Jul 2010). News and updates from the Rosetta Dedicated Control Room at ESOC, ESA's European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany. administrator 2012-02-10T10:26:51Z Embed/re-cast webstream: Rosetta's blind date with asteroid Lutetia - 10 Jul 18:00-23:30 CEST (16:00-21:30 GMT) http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/5/1210 <a id="res_18725" href="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/5/1210"><img src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/5/previews/esa_rosetta_stream_details.gif" border="0" align="left" /></a>On 10 July, the European Space Agency will webstream Rosetta's fly-by of Asteroid Lutetia in a two-part programme live from ESOC, ESA's European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany. ESA's comet-chaser Rosetta is heading for a blind date with asteroid Lutetia: Rosetta does not yet know what Lutetia looks like up-close but, beautiful or otherwise, the two will meet on 10 July. Like many first dates, Rosetta will meet Lutetia on a Saturday night, flying to within 3200 km of the space rock. Rosetta started taking navigational sightings of Lutetia at the end of May so that ground controllers can determine any course corrections required to achieve their intended flyby distance. The close pass will allow around 2 hours of good imaging. The spacecraft will instantly radio the data back to Earth and the first pictures will be released later that evening. The webstream is available for embed/re-casting via our channel in Livestream.com:: <a href="http://www.livestream.com/eurospaceagency" target="_blank">http://www.livestream.com/eurospaceagency</a> Click on 'Full story' for details on how you can embed-re-cast the webstream in your website, personal home page, blog or other channel. -- Daniel Webcast - 10 July 2010 - all times shown in CEST (= GMT + 2) Convert times, <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meetingdetails.html?year=2010&month=7&day=10&hour=16&min=0&sec=0&p1=224&p2=179&p3=136&p4=83" target="_blank">via timeanddate.com</a> ------------------------- Programme, venue, timings ------------------------- Rosetta's fly-by of asteroid Lutetia 10 July 2010 18:00-23:30 CEST Part 1 - 18:00-18:45 CEST <ul> <li>Welcome, live switch from Rosetta Control Room at ESA/ESOC, Darmstadt</li> <li>CLOSEST APPROACH 18:10:07 CEST</li> <li>Interviews with mission scientists and operations engineers</li> <li>ESA's Head of Operations, Manfred Warhaut, on why we study asteroids and ESA's new Space Situational Awareness Programme</li> <li>ESA's Director for Science, David Southwood, on the science of asteroids</li> </ul> Intermission - 18:50-23:00 CEST <ul> <li>Rosetta mission background (archive video) while scientists receive and process fly-by data and images</li> <li>Perfect break to watch World Cup soccer semi-final!! <a href="http://www.fifa.com" target="_blank">http://www.fifa.com</a></li> </ul> Part 2 - 23:00-23:30 CEST <ul> <li>Introduction and presentation of images</li> <li>On-site media Q&A with mission scientists</li> </ul> ------------------------------- Webstream embed/re-cast details ------------------------------- Instructions for embedding the webcast in your website, homepage or blog (see image below) <ol> <li>Access <a href="http://www.livestream.com/eurospaceagency" target="_blank">http://www.livestream.com/eurospaceagency</a></li> <li>Scroll to 'Share this Channel'</li> <li>Click on 'Embed' to copy video player code --> click on 'Settings' icon to customize</li> </ol> <a href="http://timeanddate.com/s/1sa6" target="_blank">Start time: 09:00 PST = 12:00 EST = 16:00 UTC = 17:00 BST = 18:00 CEST</a> ------------------------------------------- Contact for questions or technical assistance ------------------------------------------- Daniel Scuka ESA/ESOC dani<a href="http://www.google.com/recaptcha/mailhide/d?k=01WTXNc2ASfDvnPxblAPc5Hg==&c=NdlmyFrQFnSG_8hIyMIad8sQKaOrOvHczm3JuAJtiwk=" title="Reveal this e-mail address">...</a>@esa.int CLICK on image to see full-size version showing where to grab embed code...  <a href="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/5/esa_rosetta_stream_details.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/5/previews-med/esa_rosetta_stream_details.gif" border="0" /></a>         General Multimedia Press Releases 2010-06-30T16:19:05Z danielscuka New animation shows Earth approaching http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/5/906 As a reader commented, the images clearly show Earth smiling back at Rosetta! The OSIRIS team has composed this animation from a sequence of images taken once every 24 hours, beginning when Rosetta was at a distance of 50 000 km at 22:28 UTC last night. The resolution is 6.5 km/pixel. <a href="http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM8KIHVY1G_index_0.html" target="_blank">Access the animation in the main ESA web site</a>. -- Amruta General Multimedia 2009-11-14T09:45:06Z danielscuka Rosetta sees a living planet - latest OSIRIS images http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/5/900 Click on images to access full-size version. For detailed captions and information, <a href="http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Operations/SEM8KIHVY1G_0.html" target="_blank">access the ESA web portal</a>.   <a id="res_9242" href="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/5/NAC_2009-11-12T21.28.png"><img src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/5/previews-med/NAC_2009-11-12T21.28.gif" border="0" alt="Credits: ESA ©2009 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA" /></a> Credits: ESA ©2009 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA   <a id="res_9244" href="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/5/NAC_2009-11-13T04.44.45.775_night_v2.png"><img src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/5/previews-med/NAC_2009-11-13T04.44.45.775_night_v2.gif" border="0" alt="Credits: ESA ©2009 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA" /></a> Credits: ESA ©2009 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA         General Science Multimedia 2009-11-13T15:16:49Z danielscuka Today's swingby animated http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/5/893 Cool animation showing today's swingby as seen from Rosetta. The second half of the animation shows what you see if you were sitting on board Rosetta and watching Earth approach and then recede. -- Daniel     <center><iframe align="top" frameborder="0" height="234" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/swf_embeds/ros_esb3_ani.html" width="416">&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/center&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</iframe>       </center> General Operations Multimedia 2009-11-13T10:20:34Z danielscuka ESA TV report: Rosetta's last call home http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/5/875 <img src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/5/vlcsnap-00005.png" align="left" />On its ten-year journey to rendezvous with a comet, ESAs Rosetta probe is visiting home for the third and last time on 13 November. It will be the last of its four planetary gravity assists - in 2007 Rosetta also had a swingby at Mars - each time picking up energy to reach its final target in 2014. Although a delicate moment for spacecraft controllers, the Earth swingby will be used to test all the science instruments and to make an innovative contribution to the search for water on the Moon. This A & B-Roll from ESA TV was released last week and describes the Earth swingby, the science observations and the next key moment of the mission including interviews with Rosettas ESA Project Scientist, its principal investigators and the spacecraft controllers (note: this is a low-res preview). Click on 'Full story' to watch video. -- Daniel     <div> <iframe frameborder="0" height="288" scrolling="no" src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/swf_embeds/rlch.html" width="360"></iframe> </div> General Multimedia 2009-11-09T10:09:09Z danielscuka Rosetta's long trek http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/5/841 The mission was launched in 2004, and will reach comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014. Animation showing Rosetta's journey from launch until it reaches its final destination, including all major milestones along the way. Move cursor over the buttons on top to play, stop or zoom in. Click on 'select events' to select the event at which you want to see Rosetta's journey begin.  <iframe frameborder="0" height="410" scrolling="no" src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/swf_embeds/wir.html" width="100%"></iframe> <ul> <li>Launch: 2 March 2004 </li> <li>First Earth swingby: 4 March 2005</li> <li>Mars swingby: 25 February 2007</li> <li>Second Earth swingby: 13 November 2007</li> <li>Steins flyby: 5 September 2008</li> <li>Third Earth swingby: 13 November 2009</li> <li>Lutetia flyby: 10 July 2010</li> <li>Comet rendezvous manoeuvres: 22 May 2014</li> <li>Lander delivery: 10 November 2014</li> <li>Escorting the comet around the Sun: November 2014 - December 2015</li> <li>End of mission: December 2015</li> </ul> Upon arrival, Rosetta will continue to orbit the comet, observing what happens as the icy nucleus approaches the Sun and then will travel away from it. The mission is expected to end in December 2015. Subsequently, Rosetta will again pass close to Earth’s orbit, more than 4000 days after its adventure began. -- Amruta  General Operations Multimedia Flight Dynamics 2009-10-23T11:27:45Z amehta Final prediction for Rosetta trajectory correction manoeuvre 22 Oct http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/5/837 The ESA Flight Dynamics team at ESOC spent yesterday analysing the most recent orbit data on Rosetta and have finalised the estimates for tomorrow's trajectory correction manoeuvre. The TCM will involve switching Rosetta's four in-line (or axial) thrusters on for a pre-set length of time to kick her onto the desired approach trajectory for the Earth swingby on 13 November. The team have estimated the necessary 'delta-v' (desired change in velocity) at 8.789 cm/seconds, with the thruster burn starting at 15:26:11 UTC (17:26:11 CEST). Click on 'Full story' for more details (below), and/or watch an old - but still very good - NASA video on orbital mechanics from YouTube. -- Daniel <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="350" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/d__hN6nqi-k" id="ltVideoYouTube"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/d__hN6nqi-k" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <param name="allowScriptAcess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="quality" value="best" /> <param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /> <param name="FlashVars" value="playerMode=embedded" /> </object> First, a bit of physics... Velocity is a 'vector' quantity: it has both a magnitude and a direction. Speed is a 'scalar' quantity (i.e. has no direction) and is equal to the magnitude of velocity. A velocity is therefore given by two numbers: a speed, or rate of change, usually in km/second or cm/second, and a direction, given with respect to a 3D coordinate system (... and you need two numbers to define a direction, for example a right ascension and declination to give star directions, or a latitude and longitude to give a direction from the centre of the Earth). The aim of tomorrow's thruster burn is to change Rosetta's speed and direction by a defined amount; thus the manoeuvre is characterised by a number called 'delta-v' for 'change in velocity'. Tomorrow's required 'delta-V' has been calculated by ESA's flight dynamics team to be 8.789 cm/second, which means that Rosetta's orbital velocity must change by 8.789 cm/second. Because the direction of the delta-V is not parallel to the direction of Rosetta's orbital velocity, tomorrow's burn will change both the direction and the magnitude of her orbital velocity. Note that the change in magnitude alone, i.e. the change in Rosetta's speed alone, will be an increase of 6.8 cm/second. This component of the change in velocity actually brings the time of perigee passage, or closest approach, forward by 14 seconds compared with no manoeuvre, to 07:45:40 UTC (08:45:40 CET). Back to practical steps... Based on the required delta-v, a set of commands will be generated, which will be radioed up to the spacecraft by the flight control team. The commands will tell Rosetta in which direction it should slew, or rotate, so that the axial thrusters are pointing in the correct direction, and the necessary change in speed that the thrusters should provide. The direction in which Rosetta's velocity must change is, with respect to North-South on Earth, mainly 'up' - in other words, without tomorrow's TCM, Rosetta would pass approximately 66 km south of the desired point of closest approach (which is over the sea just off the south coast of the Indonesian island of Java, at 109°E and 8°S). The delta-V will also lower the altitude at closest approach by 33 km (to 2481 km) and move the point 29 km to the east. Based on the theoretical performance of the four 10-Newton axial thrusters, the desired amount of delta-v should be achieved by switching them on for 86.946 seconds, starting at 15:26:10.598 UTC (17:26:10.598 CEST) and ending at 15:27:37.544 UTC. Rosetta will burn 93 g of fuel. Remember: all these numbers are only estimates, and are generated using mathematical models that, while good, can never fully predict the real-life results of the burn. Once the burn is complete, the team will spend a few days doing a precise orbit determination to find how well the burn went, and to help decide whether any additional burns will be required (there are slots for three more). If all goes as predicted tomorrow, the expected time of perigee passage (closest approach) on 13 November is, indeed, 07:45:40 UTC (08:45:40 CET). And many thanks to Rosetta's lead Flight Dynamics specialist, T. Morley, here at ESOC for reviewing this post! -- Daniel PS: A nice clip from 'Cosmos' of one of my personal heroes, Carl Sagan, explaining how Kepler's laws were found: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcKiG-CuvtA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcKiG-CuvtA</a> Operations Multimedia Flight Dynamics 2009-10-21T16:11:22Z danielscuka Preliminary estimate for Thursday's correction manoeuvre http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/5/831 <a href="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/5/831"><img src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/5/rosetta_youtube_preview_thumbnail.jpg" align="left" /></a>Just got a note from Flight Dynamics - the number crunching experts here at ESOC - on their calculations for Thursday's trajectory correction manoeuvre (TCM). They’ve started their calculations for the manoeuvre design. They’re now waiting to receive the latest DSN tracking data from NASA. Next step: they’ll spend time today to optimise and finalise the manoeuvre calculations. After that, the team will begin generation of the commands that need to be uploaded to Rosetta for the TCM. Once the commands are in, we will be able to tell you the precise start and end times of Thursday's TCM burn. As of now, the preliminary estimate (change possible) is a thruster burn of 6 secs. Rosetta Spacecraft Operations Manager (SOM) Andrea Accomazzo confirms that the manoeuvre will make use of the 4 axial thrusters located at each corner of the Rosetta main body. These point directly along the central axis of the spacecraft. Each of Rosetta's 24 thrusters can generate a force of 10 Newtons, about the same as you would experience if you were holding a large bag of apples on Earth. At launch in 2004, over half the spacecraft's mass comprised propellant (approx. 1670 kg)! Click on 'Full story' to view a short YouTube clip on Rosetta ESB3. -- Daniel YT clip below; also: access a 3D model of Rosetta here: <a href="http://rosetta.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=31389" target="_blank">http://rosetta.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=31389</a>   <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="350" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/9V6CB-OEXOA" id="ltVideoYouTube"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9V6CB-OEXOA" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <param name="allowScriptAcess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="quality" value="best" /> <param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /> <param name="FlashVars" value="playerMode=embedded" /> </object>   Operations Multimedia Flight Dynamics 2009-10-20T12:20:14Z danielscuka Cool animation: (2867) Steins getting closer http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/5/409 <a id="res_487" href="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/5/20080825-0903_c_mf.gif"><img src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/5/previews-med/20080825-0903_c_mf.gif" border="0" align="left" /></a> Sabine Kielbassa, Rosetta Flight Dynamics specialist sent this in earlier. She and her colleague, Michael Flegel, put together this animation for us last night (click on image at left for full animated GIF). The animation is composed of images taken once a day by NAVcam A between 25 August and 3 September. These images were used for the optical navigation campaign, as Rosetta followed Steins, refining its trajectory to close in on the asteroid. The images have been adjusted so that the stars are of roughly the same brightness from day to day, although the exposure times decrease, and Steins becomes brighter as Rosetta appoaches. --Amruta  General Optical Navigation Multimedia 2008-09-05T16:09:57Z amehta Live streaming of the Rosetta Steins fly-by press conference http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/5/407 After the fly-by which is scheduled for 20:58 CEST ground time today, data will be downloaded through the night. Beginning at 12:00 CEST, there is a press conference here at the European Space Operations Centre. Access live streaming of the press conference on <a href="http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Rosetta/SEMW4V0SAKF_0.html">this page</a>. The stream begins at 11:55 CEST and ends at 13:20 CEST. There is an interesting line-up of talks by some of ESA's top scientists and engineers, who will convey their first impressions of the fly-by, sharing pictures and information transmitted back to Earth the night before. The agenda is available <a href="http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Rosetta/SEMM6L0SAKF_0.html">here</a>. --Amruta General Multimedia 2008-09-05T10:45:14Z amehta