Mission Rosetta target confirmed for Philae – Industry and Technologies

Photo taken on October 7 by Philae with its CIVA camera. It shows one of the solar panels Rosetta.

© ESA / Rosetta / Philae / CIVA

 The European Space Agency ( ESA ) gave the green light Tuesday, October 14 the deployment of the lander Philae on the comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko from the probe Rosetta , scheduled for November 12. Since arriving at the comet, whom she met at 55 000 km / h after traveling 6.4 billion kilometers, Rosetta has conducted several studies and unprecedented scientific analysis to help researchers learn more about the formation of our solar system.

 In parallel, the probe is closer to the comet originally in orbit 100 km on August 6, it is now located just 10 km from the core of the rock 4 km long. This proximity has allowed teams from ESA to determine which sites were most favorable landing Philae, which will conduct testing directly from the core surface in addition to the analyzes of Rosetta from orbit.

 Below is a video of the orbital maneuvers qu’effectuera Rosetta to deploy Philae. The animation shows the orbit of Rosetta before, during and after its separation from the lander

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 It begins on 1 October with Rosetta located 19 km from the center of Comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko. We then see the change to a close orbit of 10 km (mid-October) and the steps prior to separation (Nov. 12), including a short maneuver, two hours prior to deployment, to be placed at 22.5 km of the comet and ensure proper trajectory Philae. A series of decisions (Go / No-Go) will be taken prior to separation, beginning November 11 and continuing until the last moment before the separation. In the case of a “No-Go”, the deployment would be canceled and another attempt would be set up for a later date. Note that the entire operation must adhere to a very strict timing, given that on November 12 it will take 28 minutes and 20 seconds for a message to one-way between Rosetta and Earth.

 During the descent of the lander (approximately 7 hours), Rosetta is still executing a maneuver to keep eye contact with him, redirecting to establish communication (about two hours after the separation). Philae meanwhile take multiple images and conduct scientific experiments, analyzing the dust and gas in the environment of the comet. A final series of maneuvers Rosetta send an orbit 50 km before replacing 30 km and 20 km (early December).

 Scientific experiments Philae at the surface will begin approximately one hour after landing and will last 64 hours, limited by the capacity of the battery module. The conduct further studies will be its ability to recharge them, including the impact of dust on the proper operation of solar panels. In all cases, it is estimated that Philae stop operating when the comet nearer sun, in March 2015, the temperature becomes too high. However, the Rosetta probe itself will continue to work in orbit and study the evolution of the comet as it passes closest to the sun (in August 2015) and later when its distance from the star.

 A summary of the measurements made by Philae during its descent and after landing: