Rosetta Spacecraft Says Its Final Goodbye

An image of the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko worth a thousand words

The OSIRIS narrow-angle camera aboard the Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft captured this image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on September 30, 2016, from an altitude of about 10 miles (16 kilometers) above the surface during the spacecraft’s controlled descent. The image scale is about 12 inches (30 centimeters) per pixel and the image itself measures about 2,000 feet (614 meters) across.
Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Space news (solar system science: planetary science; cometary science) – 66 feet above the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko; in a controlled descent –

Rosetta’s last image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, taken shortly before impact, at an estimated altitude of 66 feet (20 meters) above the surface. The image was taken with the OSIRIS wide-angle camera on 30 September. The image scale is about 5 mm/pixel and the image measures about 2.4 m across.
Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

The image above is the last thing the OSIRIS narrow-angle camera aboard the European Space Agency”s (ESA)Rosetta spacecraft captured before it hit the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at 4:19 a.m. PDT (7:19 a.m. EDT/1:19 p.m. CEST) on September 30, 2016. During this controlled crash landing of the first spacecraft in history to rendezvous and escort a comet as it orbits the Sun. Astronomers were able to conduct an additional study of the gas, dust and plasma environment close to the surface of the comet and take these high-resolution images.

Comet from 5.7 km – narrow-angle camera
Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

The OSIRIS narrow-angle camera also captured the image shown at the top of the page from a height of around 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This image spans a distance of around 2,000 feet (614 meters) across the comet’s icy and volatile surface. Attempting to walk across such a surface as Bruce Willis and his drilling crew did in the movie Armageddon is going to be tricky at best.

OSIRIS narrow-angle camera image with Philae, 2 September
Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

It might seem like a waste to purposely crash the Rosetta spacecraft on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, but in the end, it’s probably the best solution. This comets headed out beyond the orbit of Jupiter, which is further from the Sun than the spacecraft has traveled before, and there wouldn’t be enough solar power to operate its systems. Communicating with the spacecraft’s also about to become difficult for a month, with the Sun being close to the line-of-sight between Earth and Rosetta during this time period.

Close-up of the Philae lander, imaged by Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on 2 September 2016 from a distance of 2.7 km. The image scale is about 5 cm/pixel. Philae’s 1 m-wide body and two of its three legs can be seen extended from the body. The images also provide proof of Philae’s orientation.
The image is a zoom from a wider-scene, and has been interpolated.
More information: Philae found!
Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Rosetta mission complete

Feel happy for Rosetta and team, they both did the job, and then some in the end. It took a decade of careful planning and travel to rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and write history. Just one month and two days later, a smaller lander named Philae touched down on the surface of the comet. It bounced on the surface a few times, before finally setting down. During the next few days, it took the first images ever of a comet’s surface up close and sent back important data planetary scientists will use to look for clues to the role comets played in the formation of the planets 4.5 billion years ago. Clues they hope to use to learn more about the origin and evolution of our solar system and possibly the formation of solar systems in general.

JPL/NASA Rosetta Team
From left to right:
Dongsuk (Don) Han- Outer Planet Navigation
Bruce Tsurutani – Rpc-mag
Essam Heggy – Consert
Sam Gulkis – Miro
Danny Tran – Aspen
Josh Doubleday – Aspen
Gregg Rabideau – Aspen
Tim Koch – Miro
Martina Troesch – Software
Barbara Hesselgesser – Acquisitions
Paul Von Allmen – Miro
Belinda Arroyo – DSN
Sophia Lee – Scheduling
Paul Friz-Rosetta Shadow Project
Liz Barrios – Illustrator
Paul Springer – Miro
Steve Chien – Aspen
Cynthia Kahn-Former SE
David Delgado – Public Engagement
Claudia Alexander – Project Scientist
Grant Faris – MA
Shyam Bhaskaran – NAV
Mark Hofstadter – Miro
Seungwon Lee – Miro
Lei Pan – Miro
Jacky Bagumyan – Assistant
Adans Ko – MA
Sarah Marcotte – Mars consultant
Charlene Barone – Rosetta Web Project Lead
Dan Goods – Creative Director
Virgil Adumitroale – Miro
Richard Flores – Acquisitions
Artur Chmielewski – Rosetta Project Manager
Veronica McGregor – Social Media
Credits: NASA/JPL

Watch this YouTube video of the last few hours of ESA’s Rosetta mission.

Read and learn more about planetary scientists anticipation of studying a sample of material from the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, material left over from the early moments of the birth of the solar system.

Read about comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Prepare to journey to comet 103P/Hartley.

Join the space journey of NASA.

Learn more about comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko here.

Read and learn more about the discoveries of the Rosetta spacecraft.

Learn more about the work of the ESA.

Read and learn more about comets here.

 

Crucible of the Building Blocks of Life

Just add water, gasses, and simple organic molecules 

Space news (July 27, 2015) – the search for life beyond Earth – a simple recipe for extraterrestrial life –

The simple building blocks of life could have traveled to Earth on icy grains of dust carried on asteroids and meteorites during the early moments of the Solar System.

NASA scientists studying the origins of organic compounds important to the development of life on Earth think they’re on the trail of a cosmic “Crucible of the Building Blocks of Life”. Recent experiments conducted by astrobiologists working at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland indicate asteroids and meteorites could have been the source of complex organic compounds essential to the evolution of life on Earth. Essential organic compounds they have been able to reproduce in laboratory experiments from simpler organic compounds, water, and gasses in simulations of the space environments of meteorites and asteroids. 

“We found that the types of organic compounds in our laboratory-produced ices match very well to what is found in meteorites,” said Karen Smith of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “This result suggests that these important organic compounds in meteorites may have originated from simple molecular ices in space. This type of chemistry may also be relevant for comets, which contain large amounts of water and carbon dioxide ices. These experiments show that vitamin B3 and other complex organic compounds could be made in space and it is plausible that meteorite and comet impacts could have added an extraterrestrial component to the supply of vitamin B3 on ancient Earth.”

“This work is part of a broad research program in the field of Astrobiology at NASA Goddard. We are working to understand the origins of biologically important molecules and how they came to exist throughout the Solar System and on Earth. The experiments performed in our laboratory demonstrate an important possible connection between the complex organic molecules formed in cold interstellar space and those we find in meteorites.”

The Crucible of the Building Blocks of Life

Deep within immense clouds of gas and dust created by exploding stars (supernovae) and the winds of red giant stars coming to the end of their days are countless dust grains. Many of these dust grains will end up part of asteroids and meteorites like the millions of bodies in the Main Asteroid Belt, Kuiper Belt, and Oort Cloud. Asteroids and meteorites that bombarded the Earth from space during the formation of the planets and Solar System.

Cosmic dust grains carried on asteroids and meteorites that struck the Earth during the first moments of the birth of the Solar System could have carried complex organic compounds that contributed to the birth and evolution of life on Earth.

NASA space scientists were able to reproduce a “Crucible of the Building Blocks of Life” using an aluminum plate cooled to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 253 Celsius) as the cold surface of an interstellar dust grain carried by an asteroid or meteorite heading to Earth 4.5 billion years ago. The experiments were conducted in a vacuum chamber used to replicate conditions in space to which they added gasses containing water, carbon dioxide, and the simple organic compound pyridine. Bombarding the cold surface with high energy protons from a particle accelerator to simulate cosmic radiation and other radiation found in space produced more complex organic compounds like vitamin B3.  

Data collected by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta Mission during the months and years ahead could shine more light on this subject. Rosetta’s lander, Philae, is currently sitting on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko awaiting its closest approach to the Sun in August 2015. Presently, the surface of the comet is warming and gasses we can test to validate the results of these experiments are expected to be released as it nears Sol.

To learn more about the European Space Agency and its work with the Rosetta mission go here.

To learn more about NASA’s space mission and the search for life beyond Earth visit here.

Learn more about the Goddard Space Flight Center here.

Learn more about plans to visit Jupiter’s moon Europa to have a look for the ingredients that make life possible.

Read about the search for the missing link in black hole evolution.

Learn about the planets space scientists are finding orbiting four star systems.

Rosetta Spacecraft Set to Deploy Lander to Surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko

The Rosetta spacecraft uses its 11 scientific instruments to study the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko Credits: NASA

After a decade traveling through the solar system, Rosetta is preparing to write history 

This image taken by Rosetta shows the primary landing site of Philae. Credits: ESA/Rosetta

The image above shows the primary landing site of Philae, Rosetta’s lander, which is expected to make a soft landing on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko at Site J, or backup Site C, on Nov. 12, 2014. Image credit: ESA/Rosetta

Between Mars and Jupiter (Oct. 11, 2014) –

After two weeks of analysis of possible trajectories the flight dynamics and operations teams of the European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing to make the first soft landing of a robot on a comet on Nov. 12, 2014. Expectations are for Rosetta to release Philae at around 08:35 UTC (12:35 a.m PST; 9:35 a.m. Central European Time), if Site J is the target, at a height of 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) above the center of the comet.

Philae will release from Rosetta on Nov. 12 and hopefully, make a soft landing on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko Image credit: ESA

If all goes as expected, Philae should make a soft landing about seven hours later, around 7:35 a.m. PST. Here on Earth, mission specialists will get the confirmation of a successful landing 28 minutes and 20 seconds later, due to the time it takes the signal to travel between Rosetta and the Earth. This means we should get word on whether Philae made a successful landing around 16:00 UTC (8 a.m PST; 5 p.m CET).

Should the decision be made to try for backup Site C, instead of Site J, the lander will be released at 13:04 UTC (5:04 a.m. PST; 2:04 p.m. CET) at a distance of about 7.8 miles (12.5 kilometers) from the center of the comet?

In the backup scenario, Philae should land about four hours after release, which means the confirmation signal should arrive at Earth somewhere around 17:30 UTC (9:30 a.m. PST; 6:30 p.m CET). All times are estimates subject to uncertainties of minutes.

The Rosetta team will make a final decision on the landing site on October 14, 2014, after they review the lander to see if it’s ready for launch, and take a look at the high-resolution images of the landing sites they’ll take between now and Nov. 12.

During the week including Oct. 14, the ESA is planning on having a contest to determine the best name for the landing site selected. This is your chance to stamp your name on Rosetta and its mission. Check the Rosetta mission website to sign up for the competition and check out the rules.

A joint space mission spearheaded by the European Space Agency, but with help from NASA and friends, the Rosetta Space Mission is expected to enlighten us about the origins of comets and possibly life on Earth. Comets are time capsules containing material left over from the time when the solar system and Earth were being formed. Scientists will study the gas, dust, and structure of the interior of the comet to unlock secrets about the past, evolution and possible future of Earth and the solar system. They also hope to shine a light on the origins of Earth’s water and how life came to exist on one out of the way little planet in the middle of nowhere.

After Philae has landed, it will begin to study the comet up close using 10 scientific instruments. Rosetta will continue to study the comet and its composition and structure over the next year and a bit as they travel together around the sun and then back to the outer solar system.

Hundreds of year from now, when future archaeoastronomers discover Philae sitting on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, will it create the energy and wonder created by its namesake – the Rosetta Stone – discovered in 1799 by French soldier Pierre-Francois Bouchard near the town of Rosetta in Egypt.

Philae will be sitting

Will scientists hundreds of years in the future argue over the true origin and meaning of the device they discover on a lonely comet circling the sun? Will it create widespread public interest in determining how, why and when it came to rest on a piece of the original building blocks of the solar system? Time will tell the story sometime in the future. A story that could inspire others to delve deeper into the mystery of the solar system and life on Earth.

You can find additional information on the current status of the Rosetta mission here.

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