organization:german aerospace center

New communication with #Philae – commands executed successfully
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/07/10/new-communication-with-philae-commands-executed-successfully

This report is provided by the German Aerospace Center, DLR. The #philae #lander communicated with the #Rosetta orbiter again between 19:45 and 20:07 CEST on 9 July 2015 and transmitted measurement data from the COmet Nucleus Sounding Experiment by Radiowave Transmission (CONSERT) instrument. Although the connection failed repeatedly after that, it remained completely stable for those 12 minutes. “This sign of life from Philae proves to us that at least one of the lander’s communication units remains operational and receives our commands,” said Koen Geurts, a member of the lander control team at DLR Cologne. The mood had been mixed over the last few days; Philae had not communicated with the team in the DLR Lander Control Center (LCC) since 24 June 2015. After an initial test command to turn (...)

#Landing ##CometLanding #instruments #rosetta

Video update from #lander Control Centre
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/07/01/video-update-from-lander-control-centre

As tweeted by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) yesterday, a mini status update direct from the Lander Control Center in Cologne. In short, the teams are still working hard on trying to re-establish contact with the lander. Update on status of @Philae2014 on #67P directly from #LCC in Cologne (video) #lifeonacomet (FW) pic.twitter.com/sEuNeFL7l3 — DLR - English (@DLR_en) June 30, 2015

#Landing #Philae #Rosetta ##CometLanding #rosetta #trajectory

#Rosetta’s lander #Philae wakes up from hibernation
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/06/14/rosettas-lander-philae-wakes-up-from-hibernation

Rosetta’s lander #philae is out of hibernation! The signals were received at ESA’s European Space #Operations Centre in Darmstadt at 22:28 CEST on 13 June. More than 300 data packets have been analysed by the teams at the Lander Control Center at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). “Philae is doing very well: It has an operating temperature of -35ºC and has 24 Watts available,” explains DLR Philae Project Manager Dr. Stephan Ulamec. “The lander is ready for operations.” For 85 seconds Philae “spoke” with its team on ground, via Rosetta, in the first contact since going into hibernation in November. When analysing the status data it became clear that Philae also must have been awake earlier: "We have also received historical data - so far, however, the lander had not been able to contact us (...)

#Landing ##CometLanding

Waiting patiently for #Philae
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/03/20/waiting-patiently-for-philae

For the past eight days, #Rosetta has been sending signals to #philae and listening for a response, but the #lander has not yet reported back. This report is provided by the German Aerospace Center, DLR. Perhaps it is still too cold for the Philae lander to #Wake_up on #Comet_67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Maybe its power resources are not yet sufficient to send a signal to the team at the DLR Lander Control Center. On 12 March 2015, the #rosetta orbiter began to send signals to the lander and listen for a response, but Philae has not yet reported back. “It was a very early attempt; we will repeat this process until we receive a response from Philae,” says DLR Project Manager Stephan Ulamec. “We have to be patient.” On 20 March 2015 at 05:00 CET, the communication unit on the Rosetta orbiter was (...)

#Instruments #Landing #Operations #instruments

Waiting for a signal from #Philae
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/03/10/waiting-for-a-signal-from-philae

This week, #Rosetta will begin listening for signs that #philae is still “alive”. This report is provided by the German Aerospace Center, DLR. It would be very lucky if a signal were to be received from Philae at 05:00 CET on 12 March 2015. The #lander finally came to rest on 12 November 2014 in a rather shaded location on #Comet_67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and it needs to receive sufficient energy before it can #Wake_up and begin communicating. This is, however, the first possibility to receive a signal from Philae; therefore, the communication unit on the #rosetta orbiter will be switched on to call the lander. “Philae currently receives about twice as much solar energy as it did in November last year,” says Lander Project Manager Stephan Ulamec from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum (...)

#Instruments #Landing #instruments

Where is #Philae? When will it wake up?
▻http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/01/30/where-is-philae-when-will-it-wake-up

These are the two most popular questions currently being asked of the mission – especially on our social media channels – and ones that we will try to answer in this post, including inputs from the OSIRIS team, and from the Lander Control Centre at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Where is #philae? Ever since Philae touched down on #Comet_67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for the final time on 12 November – it is thought to have come into contact with the #comet’s surface a total of four times including the final #Landing – the search has been on to identify it in images. While the CONSERT instrument has helped to narrow down a 350 x 30 m ‘landing strip’ on Comet 67P/C-G’s smaller lobe, a dedicated search in OSIRIS images has so far not been able to confirm the little lander’s final location. Philae’s (...)

#Instruments #Rosetta ##CometLanding #rosetta #trajectory #wake-up

#Germany planning secret #satellite recon ? | WikiLeaked
►http://wikileaks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/03/germany_planning_secret_satellite_recon

Since the cable’s release, the German Aerospace Center has denied that HiROS is a “spy satellite, nor a secret project” and suggested that it would instead be used for “crisis management during natural catastrophes and for scientific uses.” But that wasn’t the impression U.S. officials got after the 2009 meeting:

The BND stressed that having their own national space-based reconnaissance assets will enable them to be a better partner with the USG by bringing more unique value to the table. The BND indicated that they are anxious to precede with additional high value substantive joint projects with the USG and hope that through a closer imagery exchange relationship, Germany could fill some of their collection gaps by gaining access to US imagery covering Iran, North Korea, China, and the Haqqani Network in the AFPAK region. Also of note, the BND also wants to work with the USG on GEOINT issues of mutual interest in Africa.

#usa #cablegate