News Release

Successful Rosetta swing-by -- next stop Earth!

UK comment

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Science and Technology Facilities Council

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft successfully completed a swing-by of Mars in the early hours of Sunday morning (25th February 2007). Not only did this mark an important milestone on the spacecraft's 7.1 billion km journey to comet Churyumov Gerasimenko but it provided a unique opportunity to gather further scientific data and images from the Red Planet.

The critical gravity assist manoeuvre around Mars has helped Rosetta change direction – putting it on the correct track towards Earth its next destination planet whose gravitational energy Rosetta will exploit in November this year to gain acceleration and continue on its ten-year journey to the comet which it will reach in 2014.

At 2.57 GMT mission controllers at ESOC, ESA's Space Operations Centre in Germany confirmed that Rosetta had successfully completed the swing-by manoeuvre. At its closest approach (around 2.15 GMT) Rosetta passed the surface of Mars at a distance of 250 km (155 miles) travelling at a mere 10.1 km/second relative to the centre of the planet.

During the swing by there was a 25 minute period when Rosetta passed into the shadow of Mars denying the probe the ability to generate power using its solar arrays. At this time the spacecraft was put into "eclipse mode" with no science operations taking place on the orbiter instruments.

However, during the lead up to the closest approach and after the eclipse period the flyby presented scientists with a golden opportunity to calibrate the payload with instruments on other orbiting spacecraft such as Mars Express and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Prior to the orbiter's instruments being switched off the Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) captured some detailed images showing the atmospheric features of Mars, including cloud systems above the North polar cap.

Professor Keith Mason, CEO from the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), said, "Rosetta has provided some amazing images of Mars from a completely different perspective. Data gathered during the swing-by will complement that collected by other current missions enabling us to build up a comprehensive picture of the make up of Mars."

UK scientists from 10 institutions are involved in the instruments on both the Rosetta orbiter and lander. Chris Carr leads the Imperial College London team that operates the Rosetta Plasma Consortium (RPC) instruments, "Our instruments operated near continuously both sides of the flyby – allowing simultaneous measurements with its identical twin instrument on Mars Express. With Rosetta and Mars Express together, we hope to understand more about the vast and complex plasma environment around the red planet."

Dr Andrew Coates from UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory is a co-investigator on instruments on both Rosetta and Mars Express. He comments, "It's great to see that this important milestone in this marathon mission has gone so well - and we will learn more about Mars on the way. Now, Rosetta can continue its long journey via 2 Earth flybys and passing 2 asteroids, en route to becoming the first ever mission to orbit and land on a comet. A triumph for the ESA and international teams involved."

Professor Ian Wright from the Open University is Principal Investigator for Ptolemy, a miniaturised mass spectrometer on the lander – whose instruments were able to operate during the whole period of the close approach. He said, "This is the first time that the Philae lander has operated autonomously, completely relying on the power of its batteries. It is reassuring to know that so many miles away from home all instruments operated as is planned. This was a great rehearsal for 2014 and touch down on the comet when Philae will conduct its scientific measurements independent from the Rosetta orbiter."

The camera onboard the lander (CIVA) provided a stunning image showing sections of the spacecraft and one of its solar arrays with Mars in the background. The ROMAP instrument was also switched on to collect data about the magnetic environment of Mars.

Chris Lee from SciSys UK Limited, who are responsible for the implementation of the Rosetta Mission Control System, monitored events from mission control in Germany. He comments, "The most critical time from our point of view came a few days before the actual manoeuvre when the on-board timeline was loaded with commands to execute the necessary actions for the swing-by. All went to plan and for the flyby itself it was a case of sitting back and letting Newton take over."

EADS Astrium in the UK was responsible for the design, development and supply of the spacecraft platform including the structure and mechanical, thermal, propulsion, power and RF communications equipment. Rod Emery head of Astrium's Rosetta team said: "Rosetta was a key major project and its success heralded a growth in scientific and Earth observation activities including prime management of Aeolus and Lisa Pathfinder and major roles in Gaia and Swarm. Rosetta is an extremely challenging mission and Astrium's ex Rosetta team are tracking its success with great pride."

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All images and further comment can be found at http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Rosetta/index.html

Contacts

Gill Ormrod – PPARC Press Office
Tel: 01793 442012. Mobile: 0781 8013509

Franco Bonacina - ESA Media Relations Office
Tel: +33 1 53 69 7155. Email: franco.bonacina1@esa.int

UK Science Contacts

Professor Ian Wright, Open University – Ptolemy lander
Tel: 01908-653898. E-mail: i.p.wright@open.ac.uk

Dr Andrew Ball, Open University – MUPUS
Tel: 01908-659596. E-mail: a.j.ball@open.ac.uk

Professor John Zarnecki, Open University – SESAME and MUPUS
Tel: 01908-659599. E-mail: j.c.zarnecki@open.ac.uk

Chris Carr, Imperial College London – Rosetta Plasma Consortium RPC
Tel: 020-7594-7765. E-mail: c.m.carr@ic.ac.uk

Professor André Balogh, Imperial College London
Tel: 020-7594-7770. E-mail: a.balogh@ic.ac.uk

Dr. Andrew Coates, UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory – science team of RPC
Tel: 01483-204145 E-mail: ajc@mssl.ucl.ac.uk

Professor Fred Taylor, Oxford University – VIRTIS
Tel: 01865-272933. E-mail: fwt@atm.ox.ac.uk

Professor Iwan Williams – Queen Mary, University of London - CONSERT
Tel: 020 7882 5452. Email: I.P.Williams@qmul.ac.uk

Professor Mark Bailey – Armagh Observatory – OSIRIS
Tel: 028 3752 2928. Email: meb@star.arm.ac.uk

Notes to Editors

UK Science Involvement

In total there are 21 instruments/experiments on Rosetta (11 on orbiter and 10 on the lander Philae). UK scientists are involved in 10 of these (7 on orbiter and 4 on Philae).

The institutes involved are:- Armagh Observatory, Cardiff University (Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology), CCLRC, Imperial College London, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCL, Open University, Oxford University, Queen Mary University of London, University of Sheffield.

For a full list of UK scientists involved in Rosetta, including their roles and contact details can be found at:-http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/Rosetta.asp

UK industrial involvement

The following UK companies are involved in the Rosetta mission:- AEA Technology Ltd, EADS Astrium, Logica CMG, Polyflex Aerospace Ltd, SciSys UK Ltd, SEA Group Ltd, Surrey Satellite Technologies Ltd, Vega Ltd.

Mission information

Further information and images http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Rosetta/index.html
Frequently asked questions about Rosetta http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Rosetta/SEMHBK2PGQD_0.html

B roll/animations

Broadcast material, including an animation of the flyby manoeuvre, is available on the ESA TV website. http://television.esa.int/mpeg.cfm

Mission Firsts - Rosetta is a historic mission for the following reasons

  • Rosetta will be the first spacecraft to orbit a comets nucleus

  • It will be the first spacecraft to fly alongside a comet as it heads towards the inner Solar System

  • Rosetta will the first spacecraft to examine from close proximity how a frozen comet is transformed by the warmth of the Sun

  • Shortly after its arrival at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the Rosetta orbiter will dispatch a robotic lander for the first controlled touchdown on a comet nucleus

  • The Rosetta lander's instruments will obtain the first images from a comet's surface and make the first in-situ analysis to find out what it is made of.

  • Rosetta will be the first spacecraft ever to fly close to Jupiter's orbit using solar cells as its main power source.

The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) is the UK's strategic science investment agency. It funds research, education and public understanding in four areas of science - particle physics, astronomy, cosmology and space science.

PPARC is government funded and provides research grants and studentships to scientists in British universities, gives researchers access to world-class facilities and funds the UK membership of international bodies such as the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), and the European Space Agency. It also contributes money for the UK telescopes overseas on La Palma, Hawaii, Australia and in Chile, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility, which includes the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank observatory.

PPARC is a partner in the British National Space Centre [BNSC] which coordinates the UK's civil space activities.


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