Rosetta Comet probe mission Archives

Rosetta has until the end of January to try and bring Philae home.

Last year the Space Agency from Europe (ESA) successfully managed to land a spacecraft on the surface of a planet. Now, Rosetta is trying to reach estranged Philae, the comet lander that is currently on the surface of the comet designated as 67P.

Because the last time when Philae was active was last July, scientists at the ESA are growing nervous. As time passes by and no contact is made, chances that the piece of technology will be forever lost greatly increase.

An operations manager, Cinzia Fantinati, from the Philae control team at the Center of German Aerospace, says that there is a slight possibility that the comet lander could be brought back home. This could be accomplished if the Rosetta spacecraft manages to reach the landing craft.

In order for Rosetta to establish contact with estranged Philae, the landing craft must first be cleansed of the dust that has accumulated on it since its landing on the 67P comet. This operation will prove to be a bit tricky since a couple of systems are faulty on the Philae, and others are plain unresponsive.

The experts from the Center of German Aerospace think that they can clean Philae’s solar panels by powering up the momentum wheel and sending a spin command to it. This would do the trick in cleaning the large amounts of space dust. The wheel in question was used as a stabilizer at the moment of the craft’s descent on the 67P comet.

When the landing craft will be clean, the solar panels would be able to align themselves and take advantage of the Sun’s position. This is a mission with a limited time-frame, though since the researchers have predicted that the comet will only remain in a charging distance from the sun until the end of this January. If the Philae is not recovered until then, it will be lost forever.

At the moment, the temperature is high enough for the craft to take flight, but if the comet distances itself more from the Sun, the cold will affect the equipment irreparably. Hopes lie in the fact that Philae is only to dusty to be able to charge himself and send additional data. Stephan Ulamec, one of the members of the team which monitors the craft, hopes that it is not tilted, thus impossible to be recovered.

A representative from the French Space Agency, Philippe Gaudon, says the landing craft is already lost and any other attempt made by the team is futile.

The mission Rosetta is trying to reach estranged Philae one last time this January. After that, the spacecraft, which is predicted to function until September, will be brought home.

Image sorce: www.wikimedia.org

The scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA), who are behind the comet-chasing mission Rosetta, on Tuesday announced that the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has no magnetic field.

The new findings could offer key insight into the formation of heavenly bodies like planets and comets in the early development stages.

Last November, the Rosetta’s Philae Lander probe gathered data from its multiple landings and discovered that the comet’s surface is not magnetized.

Detailing the new findings of the Rosetta probe, study lead author Hans-Ulrich Alster said, “If the surface was magnetized, we would have expected to see a clear increase in the magnetic field readings as we got closer and closer to the surface. But this was not the case at any of the locations we visited, so we conclude that Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a remarkably nonmagnetic object.”

The landing of the probe was not at all smooth. It took four attempts and experienced a grazing collision along the way. The scientists said that it is likely the complexity of the landing that made them believe that the comet lacks a magnetized core.

Several ascents and descents permitted the team to carry out the comparison of the measurements to and from the various points of contact along the surface of the comet.

The Philae Lander, which is similar in size of a washing machine and weighs nearly 220 pounds, had sufficient stored battery life permitting 60 hours of experiments. It sent back the results on the Earth on November 15. The scientists believe the finding could assist in clarifying how bodies like planets and comets are formed in the early stages since it might help in ruling out magnetic forces.

Matthew Taylor, Rosetta project scientist at the European Space Agency, said, “It’s a massively important finding and a key thing we wanted to measure. That Churyumov-Gerasimenko does not have a magnetic field could help us solve the puzzle of how planetary building blocks evolved from the proto-planetary disk. It appears we will have to switch off the effect of magnetism in simulations of the beginning.”

The Philae lander is presently in the hibernation mode for the purpose of preserving of its battery. But it could reboot by the May-end. This intends to say that communication could be established likely by the end of June and the battery charging starting again in July.

The findings were reported by the European Space Agency in the journal Science and further presented at the European Geosciences Union in Vienna.

Rosetta Is Trying to Reach Estranged Philae

Rosetta probe denies presence of magnetic field at comet 67P

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