Mission control at closest approach
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/02/13/mission-control-at-closest-approach
Rosetta is preparing to make a close encounter with its comet tomorrow, on 14 February, passing just 6 km from the surface. On 4 February, Rosetta began manoeuvring onto a series of new trajectories that will align the spacecraft for this week’s encounter. The series of thruster burns are happening (or have happened) as follows (distances are indicated from comet surface): 4 Feb – Depart from 26-km terminator orbit 7 Feb – Achieve 142 km from comet, then turn back 11 Feb – Arc back down to 101 km 14 Feb – Reach 50 km stand-off distance; turn and burn for the closest flyby arc 14 Feb – Conduct 6 km flyby at 12:40:50c GMT The closest pass occurs over the comet’s larger lobe, above the Imhotep region (click on the image below to watch). Note that, in the main science phase, Rosetta’s trajectory (...)