Tag Archives: rosetta mission

Lander Philae: Das Ende des Winterschlafs naht

By Guest PostMarch 26, 2014Scienceasteroid, bmwi, churyumov gerasimenko, dlr, erde, erdoelfirma, erin makarius, esa, friend network, mars, max planck institut, meteoritenkrater, michael poelchau, nafud wueste, NASA, on the job, racially diverse friends, rosetta mission, sam zeller, thomas kenkmann

Einen Raketenstart im März 2004, mehrfaches Schwungholen an Erde und Mars, zwei rasante Vorbeiflüge an den Asteroiden Šteins und Lutetia – das alles hat der Lander Philae an Bord der ESA-Raumsonde Rosetta bei seinem Flug zum Kometen 67P/Churuymov-Gerasimenko bisher bereits gut überstanden. Am 28. März 2014, nach mehr als zweieinhalb Jahren Winterschlaf, nehmen die Wissenschaftler des Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) Philae wieder in Betrieb. Knapp vier Millionen Kilometer trennen Sonde und Lander dann noch von Churyumov-Gerasimenko. (more…)

‘Standing on a comet’: Rosetta mission will contribute to space weather research

By Guest PostJanuary 16, 2014Scienceandre bieler, archeological artifacts, carbon dioxide, churyumov gerasimenko, comet 67p, comet bound spacecraft, electric grid, electrified particles, european space agency, evolution, ionosphere, kenneth hansen, michael combi, model, on a comet, orbit of neptune, origin, planets, rosetta, rosetta mission, rosetta mission lander, rosetta orbiter, satellites, solar system, space weather research, standing, sun, tamas gombosi, the philae lander, university of michigan, valeriy tenishev

ANN ARBOR — A comet-bound spacecraft that’s been in sleep mode for more than two years is scheduled to wake up on the morning of Jan. 20—beginning the home stretch of its decade-long journey to a mile-wide ball of rock, dust and ice.

If all goes as planned, Rosetta—a European Space Agency-led mission that involves University of Michigan engineers and scientists—will be the first craft to actually land on a comet as well as track it for an extended period of time. (more…)