ESA Blog Navigator

Un satellite océanographique sino-français sera lancé en septembre – french.xinhuanet.com
▻http://french.xinhuanet.com/2018-03/31/c_137079111.htm

Un satellite d’observation océanique développé par la Chine et la France sera lancé en septembre, selon l’Institut des technologies des véhicules de lancement de la Chine.

Le satellite océanographique sino-français sera lancé à bord d’une fusée #Longue_Marche 2C, développée par l’institut.

Il s’agit du premier satellite développé conjointement par la Chine et la France. Il surveillera les vents à la surface de la mer et les vagues, et les données seront partagées par les scientifiques des deux pays.

Le satellite permettra de promouvoir davantage la coopération technologique entre la Chine et la France et de faciliter l’application de l’Accord de Paris sur le changement climatique, selon l’institut.

Tiangong-1 reentry updates | Rocket Science
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/2018/01/12/tiangong-1-reentry-updates

Latest reentry forecast provided by ESA’s Space Debris Office, ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.

Update 6 March 2018

The current estimated window is ~29 March to ~9 April; this is highly variable.

Reentry will take place anywhere between 43ºN and 43ºS (e.g. Spain, France, Portugal, Greece, etc.). Areas outside of these latitudes can be excluded. At no time will a precise time/location prediction from ESA be possible. This forecast will be updated approximately every week in January and February.

http://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/files/2018/03/esa_esoc_tiangong1_update_win_06032018.png

Tiangong-1 reentry window forecast as of 6 March Credit: ESA

http://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/files/2018/03/esa_esoc_tiangong1_update_alt_06032018.png

Tiangong-1 altitude decay forecast as of 6 March Credit: ESA

ESA teams respond to debris risk | Rocket Science
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/2017/01/24/esa-operations-teams-respond-to-debris-risk

For the past few days, experts from ESA’s Space Debris Office at ESOC in Darmstadt, Germany, have been assessing a conjunction (read: collision) forecast issued by the US armed forces’ Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) located at Vandenberg Air Force base in California.
[…]
JSpOC has identified a close approach for Swarm-B forecast to occur on 25 January at 23:10:55 UTC, which will be 00:10:55 CET on 26 January. The forecast miss distance is just 361 m, and this triggers a risk above the 1/10,000 risk threshold.

The chaser object is a piece of Cosmos-375 fragmentation debris. It is very small, having a radar cross-section of just 0.02 m2.

“This corresponds to a size of about 15 cm” says Tim Flohrer, the space debris analyst on duty this week at ESA’s Space Debris Office.

“With 130 observations in the database, it’s a very well tracked object, and we’re pretty confident that we know its orbit with a high degree of accuracy.”

Nonetheless, there are uncertainties in its orbit, on the order of 1000m in the along-track direction. This means it could easily come much closer than 361m to Swarm-B, and potentially even collide.

Once Upon a Time: The amazing adventures of #Rosetta and #Philae
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/12/23/once-upon-a-time-the-amazing-adventures-of-rosetta-and-philae

Watch the amazing cartoon adventures of Rosetta and Philae, now back-to-back in one special feature-length production. Find out how Rosetta and Philae first got inspired to visit a comet, and follow them on their incredible ten-year journey through the Solar System to their destination, flying around planets and past asteroids along the way. Watch as Philae tries to land on the comet and deals with some unexpected challenges! Learn about the fascinating observations that Rosetta made as she watched the comet change before her eyes as they got closer to the Sun and then further away again. Finally, wish Rosetta farewell, as she, too, finishes her amazing adventure on the surface of the comet. Keep watching for one last surprise! French version: Italian version: Spanish version: German version (...)

#Comet_67P #Comets #Fun_stuff #Outreach #video

Impressions of #Rosetta’s legacy
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/12/23/impressions-of-rosettas-legacy

In September–October 2016, over 200 people contributed to the #rosetta Legacy campaign, sharing stories, images, videos, creations and experiences to convey what the mission had meant to them. We decided to collect all contributions in an e-book, to keep a long-lasting record of the mission’s impact on a variety of public audiences. This publication presents a collection of these outstanding contributions and provides a taste of Rosetta’s legacy for fellow science communicators, scientists and engineers, educators, space enthusiasts – anyone who was fascinated by the mission. The e-book (pdf, 33MB) is available here. Thanks again to everyone who shared with us their impressions of the mission, and to all followers of Rosetta and #Philae (...)

#Comet_67P #Fun_stuff #Outreach ##rosettalegacy #comet #engagement #inspiration #outreach #philae

#Rosetta’s complete journey – #animation
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/12/23/rosettas-complete-journey-animation

Now in one complete animation: #rosetta’s #trajectory around #Comet_67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, from arrival to mission end. The animation begins on 31 July 2014, during Rosetta’s final approach to the comet after its ten-year journey through space. The spacecraft arrived at a distance of 100 km on 6 August, from where it gradually approached the comet and entered initial mapping orbits that were needed to select a #Landing site for Philae. These observations also enabled the first comet science of the mission. The manoeuvres in the lead up to, during and after Philae’s release on 12 November are seen, before Rosetta settled into longer-term science orbits. In February and March 2015 the spacecraft made several flybys. One of the closest triggered a ‘safe mode’ that forced it to retreat (...)

#Fun_stuff #Operations #video ##CometLanding #flyby #manoeuvre

#osiris Data Release : March–May 2015
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/12/22/osiris-data-release-march-may-2015

A new batch of thousands of #Images from #Rosetta's OSIRIS imaging system have been released into ESA’s Archive Image Browser and the Planetary Science Archive. This latest OSIRIS data release comprises 2423 narrow-angle camera #images and 4378 wide-angle camera images from the period 11 March – 24 May 2015. You can browse through the new images in the MTP 014, 015 and 016 albums here. 

#Comet_67P #Instruments #comet #rosetta

#Rosetta’s last words: #Science descending to a #comet
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/12/15/rosettas-last-words-science-descending-to-a-comet

On 30 September 2016, at 11:19:37 UT in ESA’s mission control, #rosetta’s signal flat-lined, confirming that the spacecraft had completed its incredible mission on the surface of #Comet_67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko some 40 minutes earlier and 720 million km from Earth. Rosetta was working up to the very end, collecting reams of #science data as it descended towards a region of pits in the Ma’at region on the comet’s ‘head’. Before we ‘retire’ the blog, we wanted to catch up with the instrument teams following this grand finale to find out how their #Instruments performed and if there were any surprises in Rosetta’s last ‘words’ from the comet. First a reminder of the impact site: Rosetta was targeting a point within a 700 x 500 m ellipse, between two pits in the Ma’at region. Reconstruction of the (...)

#Images #Landing #Operations ##CometLanding #instruments #landing_day

Reflections
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/12/12/reflections

Some ten weeks have passed since #Rosetta ended its mission on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, and it is time for a little reflection here on the #rosetta #blog... Over the past three years, we have written over 670 posts covering mission operations, science highlights, special events, images of the comet, and so much more. The blog has become a reference for a wide audience, ranging from science journalists to space enthusiasts, from casual readers to educators and even Rosetta mission scientists and operators. Beyond that, it has become a place for people to share their ideas and concerns. When we re-launched the blog in 2013, we did not expect the huge number of #comments that came in – almost 18,600 to date – and certainly we didn’t envision the considerable amount of time (...)

#Fun_stuff

Icy surprises at #Rosetta’s #comet
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/11/17/icy-surprises-at-rosettas-comet

This article is mirrored from the main ESA Web Portal. #rosetta’s comet approached its most active period last year, the spacecraft spotted carbon dioxide ice – never before seen on a comet – followed by the emergence of two unusually large patches of #water_ice. The carbon dioxide ice layer covered an area comparable to the size of a football pitch, while the two water ice patches were each larger than an Olympic swimming pool and much larger than any signs of water ice previously spotted at the comet. The three icy layers were all found in the same region, on the comet’s southern hemisphere. A combination of the complex shape of the comet, its elongated path around the Sun and the substantial tilt of its spin, seasons are spread unequally between the two hemispheres of the double-lobed (...)

#Comet_67P #Images #Instruments #Science #activity #co2_ice #colour #osiris #VIRTIS

Space Science Image of the Week: #navcam close-ups
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/11/14/space-science-image-of-the-week-navcam-close-ups

A trio of the closest NAVCAM #Images of #Comet_67P-Churyumov Gerasimenko is featured as our ESA Space Science Image of the Week. During the last few weeks of its mission at #comet 67P/C–G, the Rosetta spacecraft ventured closer than it had ever been to the surface of the nucleus. Eventually, it came to rest on the small lobe of the comet in a daring descent on 30 September 2016. No navigation images were taken during the descent; the last five NAVCAM images were taken several hours earlier, between about 20 and 17 km from the comet centre. This montage features the three closest images of the comet’s surface taken by #Rosetta's navigation camera – acquired in the first half of September. The left image in the composite (also shown below) was taken on 8 September, some 2.6 from the comet surface. (...)

#CometWatch ##CometWatch #boulders #rosetta

An encounter with #Klim_Churyumov
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/11/11/an-encounter-with-klim-churyumov

Two years ago this week, the entire world was getting ready for a historic endeavour in space: the first soft #Landing of a human-made probe on a #comet. On 12 November 2014, #Rosetta's lander #Philae landed on #Comet_67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, and while the landing didn’t go exactly as planned, Philae finally managed to secure itself to the nucleus and to conduct a series of scientific experiments in situ, while Rosetta kept observing the comet from a distance until the mission’s end last September. As communicators of ESA’s #Science missions, we gathered at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, to follow Philae’s landing and report it via ESA’s web and social media. During the week, ESOC was packed with scientists and engineers from the Rosetta and Philae (...)

#Comets #On_this_day ##CometLanding

#Rosetta #legacy winner announced
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/11/10/rosetta-legacy-winner-announced

Between 6 September and 7 October 2016, we collected 235 contributions to the #rosetta Legacy tumblr. A huge and sincere thank you to all participants who shared experiences, stories and images of how the mission of Rosetta and #Philae to #Comet_67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has inspired their lives, including study and career choices, artistic practice and other creative endeavours! The authenticity and ingenuity of the submitted entries was overwhelming, and it has been challenging to pick one top prize winner (apologies for the delay!). One entry in particular caught the attention of the ESA judges for the combination of creative effort and motivation, so we selected Cristina Romero from Spain as the top prize winner. The prize consists in a special visit to #estec, ESA’s technical heart in (...)

#Fun_stuff #Outreach #competition

Rosetta’s deep-space #ringtone
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/11/10/rosettas-deep-space-ringtone

One of the responsibilities of the engineers on any mission’s Flight Control Team is to monitor the spacecraft and react immediately in case of trouble.

#Fun_stuff #Operations #Teams #video #luminaa #nokia #on-call #spacon

Spacecraft are tricky … and engineering is an art form | Jan Woerner’s blog
▻http://blogs.esa.int/janwoerner/2016/10/21/spacecraft-are-tricky-and-engineering-is-an-art-form

On Wednesday, 19 October, TGO was successfully inserted into its intended orbit. This is the precondition for it to carry out its assigned task of gathering data from the Martian atmosphere to investigate, in particular, methane and its origin. The open question to which we are seeking an answer concerns the existence of life on Mars today or in the past.

While TGO was achieving orbit insertion around Mars, the test lander was making its way to the planet’s surface. It then had to perform a very complex set of procedures that included atmospheric entry, parachute deployment, heat shield separation, parachute separation, starting its thrusters and finally, a semi-soft touchdown.

During the descent, signal transmission from the lander suddenly stopped and could no longer be received. Once TGO’s orbit insertion had been confirmed, all the focus switched to the situation with the lander.
[…]
Some people have asked about the success of the 2016 mission so far. For the number-crunchers among them the following observation may be helpful:

The importance of TGO and EDM can be described as 80% vs. 20%, respectively. Since we obtained at least 80% of the data during the descent, the overall success rate can be calculated as follows: 80+20*0.8 = 96%. All in all, a very positive result.

So to sum up where we stand, we have achieved a successful orbit insertion of TGO, ready to perform science and act as a relay station for ExoMars 2020 ground science. Not only that, but we have received a large quantity of data from the lander giving us crucial information to help us perform a successful landing of the next mission.

Last NAVCAM archive release
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/10/20/last-navcam-archive-release

The last batch of NAVCAM #Images taken by #Rosetta during the final month of its incredible mission at #Comet_67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko have been released to the Archive Image Browser. The image set covers the period 2-30 September when the spacecraft was on elliptical orbits that sometimes brought it to within 2 km of the comet’s surface (watch this video for a reminder of #rosetta's ’end of mission’ orbits). The archive release also includes the final five NAVCAM images that were published on 30 September, taken shortly after the spacecraft’s collision manoeuvre was executed on 29 September. The new image sets can be found in folders MTP034 and (...)

#CometWatch ##CometWatch

Klim Churyumov (1937-2016)
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/10/16/klim-churyumov-1937-2016

We were saddened to learn the news yesterday that Klim Churyumov, who discovered Rosetta’s comet together with Svetlana Gerasimenko in 1969, has passed away. Many of us had the pleasure to meet him at various Rosetta Mission events held at ESOC, and we are certainly very glad that he could see ’his’ comet up close, and follow the mission right through until its conclusion just a couple of weeks ago. Our condolences to his family and friends in this time.

#CometWatch from #kepler
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/10/07/cometwatch-from-kepler

During the last month of #Rosetta's operations at #Comet_67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, it was no longer possible to observe the #comet with telescopes on Earth because it was too close to the Sun’s position in the sky and therefore not visible in the night-time. Fortunately, NASA’s Kepler space observatory stepped in, taking #Images of the comet every 30 minutes from 7 to 20 September, providing important context to #rosetta's in situ measurements. A world-class exoplanet hunter, Kepler is now in its second mission, called K2, which started on 30 May 2014. While still looking for exoplanets, it is now performing observations along the ecliptic and so observing a wealth of Solar System objects, from large bodies like Neptune and Pluto to smaller ones, like #Comets. For example, it took #images (...)

#Science #space_telescope

#Rosetta’s Earth ‘twin’ switched off
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/10/07/rosettas-earth-twin-switched-off

Just as the real #rosetta spacecraft ended its mission on the comet a week ago today, so this week Rosetta’s ’twin’, an engineering qualification model here on Earth, was also switched off. The replica Rosetta had been used in the past decade to test and validate software and procedures before being uploaded to space. Switch-off was done by Rosetta Spacecraft #Operations Manager Sylvain Lodiot on 6 Oct 2016, at ESOC. This Flickr set records the occasion: ▻https://www.flickr.com/photos/esa_events/sets/72157674885552235

#Testing/EQM ##CometLanding

#Rosetta impact site named Sais
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/10/03/rosetta-impact-site-named-sais

In case you missed it during our live coverage on Friday, #rosetta's impact site has been named Sais. Mission Manager Patrick Martin announced the name of the impact site after contact with the #comet's surface was confirmed and the mission declared complete. He said: “The Rosetta Stone was originally located in Sais, and we shall name the impact point as such so we can finally say that Rosetta has come home to Sais.” The mission was named after the Rosetta Stone, itself so named because it was found in a town called Rashid (Rosetta), having thought to have been moved there from a temple in a town called Sais. Rosetta’s last image of the comet surface is highlighted today as Space #Science Image of the Week.   

#Comet_67P #Images #Landing #Operations ##CometLanding