Rosetta Comet Orbiter -** 120 Icy Patches ** Philae Phones Home ** Ceres Fly Over Video ** New Coma Discovery ** Picture MOTHER LODE !

Direct link to the the MIRO pdf: [link to www.aanda.org]

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Rosetta and Philae are back in touch!
The signal was transmitted from Rosetta to ESA’s space operations centre in Darmstadt and received at 15:37 CEST on 19 June, and confirmed by the Lander Control Centre at the German Space Centre, DLR. A second signal was received at 15:54 CEST; the contacts lasted 2 minutes each.

Rosetta and Philae in contact again

ESA and its Rosetta mission partners have confirmed that another communication link has been made between Rosetta and Philae today.

The signal was transmitted from Rosetta to ESA’s space operations centre in Darmstadt and received at 15:37 CEST on 19 June, and confirmed by the Lander Control Centre at the German Space Centre, DLR. A second signal was received at 15:54 CEST.

The downlink was stable; the two contacts received by Rosetta lasted two minutes each. Both delivered numerous packets of lander housekeeping and status data, 185 in total, which are still being analysed at the time of this writing. No science data were anticipated or received.

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read more + pictures

[link to blogs.esa.int]

Here are some photos of the action in the Rosetta control room at ESOC today! This was the first contact since last weekend; the signal was weak but stable.


[link to blogs.esa.int]



Last Edited by Concorde Warrior F-BVFA on 06/19/2015 02:26 PM

Incredible contrasts in this new shot of Comet 67P/C-G from last Sunday, 14 June 2015. Partly bright, partly in shadow, the nucleus stands out gloriously against the glow of the growing coma.

CometWatch 14 June

Today's CometWatch entry is a single frame NAVCAM image taken on 14 June, when Rosetta was 203 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The resolution is 17.3 m/pixel and the image measures 17.7 km across.

The image was processed in LightRoom to enhance the activity of 67P/C-G, resulting in a powerful juxtaposition of contrasts. Pointing upwards, the small comet lobe shows the narrow and bouldered regions of Serqet and Nut, along with some parts of Ma'at and Maftet. A hint of the large Hatmehit depression can also be seen towards the top left, its outer rim nicely framed by outflowing material in the background.

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read more + pictures
[link to blogs.esa.int]

It's great news and Rosetta will have an even better aspect to Philae today ( Nadir pointing, that's a great expression ). Here is the telemetry from Philae yesterday. [link to isee3.p3s.nl] If you change the time scale on the lower chart to 1H you can see some data from the 19th.

K

You will also like this paper [link to www.aanda.org] ( PDF link is in there too ) That F-BVFA found



All about computing the orbital elements of some of 67P's many moons, some of which are over 4m across. A great paper for GLP's amateur astronomers.

Meanwhile Philae has been talking again in the last few hours

[link to isee3.p3s.nl]

showing a little blip of power going into the secondary battery today ( not significant but hey, its talking ! )

K

It looks like Philae's heartbeat [link to i.imgur.com]

K

I have seen more data from this morning, so it looks like there is a good chance of establishing regular communications [link to isee3.p3s.nl]

Meanwhile Dawn continues its survey orbit of Ceres. This is now the best link for the latest images [link to dawn.jpl.nasa.gov]

I like this one of Spot 1. [link to photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov] hosted [link to dawn.jpl.nasa.gov] There is a good smattering of "ice" ( OK a white material ) all around the crater. Survey orbit images are 410m/pixel

K

Beautifull pics! Can't wait to see even better close-ups of the spots.

I would also like to see some realistic color photos, but I don't know when we'll get to see those...

The Philae lander has woken up after a long hibernation on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. New Scientist magazine spoke to the ESA's operations manager, Cinzia Fantinati, about the drama of the probe's reactivation, what the next steps are for Philae, and how the Rosetta Mission mothership will end its mission.

Our dream scenario for Philae – and mission finale for Rosetta

How are things at Rosetta mission control now?
It's a bit busy here, and the enthusiasm is immense. We were of course hoping for the Philae lander to wake up, but seeing it is great. We are really happy. The first data show that the status of the lander is not too bad.

Where were you last Saturday when you heard Philae had got back in touch?
As operations manager, I get the first call if we receive a signal from the lander. I was in Italy visiting my parents when I got a phone call at 11 at night from mission control in Darmstadt, saying we've got a signal.

How did you react?
When I saw the number displayed on my phone, I knew something must have happened, so I was really excited. My parents didn't really understand what was going on but they realised that Philae was calling home. They saw me running around, trying to phone my colleagues, connect computers.

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read more here:
[link to www.newscientist.com]

Has no-one any comment regarding the "Mountain" on Ceres??

Why the hell?...or How the hell is there a "Mountain" 3 kms high on Ceres?? There are some people who are pretty confused about that...it doesn't appear to be a Cyrovolcano..certainly not a single one all on its lonesome. So....??

...I'm dying here guys lol...

ust confirmed: the Rosetta mission will be extended until the end of September 2016, at which point the spacecraft will most likely be landed on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.




23 June 2015

The adventure continues: ESA today confirmed that its Rosetta mission will be extended until the end of September 2016, at which point the spacecraft will most likely be landed on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Rosetta was launched in 2004 and arrived at the comet in August 2014, where it has been studying the nucleus and its environment as the comet moves along its 6.5-year orbit closer to the Sun. After a detailed survey, Rosetta deployed the lander, Philae, to the surface on 12 November. Philae fell into hibernation after 57 hours of initial scientific operations, but recently awoke and made contact with Rosetta again.

Rosetta’s nominal mission was originally funded until the end of December 2015, but at a meeting today, ESA’s Science Programme Committee has given formal approval to continue the mission for an additional nine months. At that point, as the comet moves far away from the Sun again, there will no longer be enough solar power to run Rosetta’s set of scientific instrumentation efficiently.

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read more here + pictures

[link to www.esa.int]

No I think it is fascinating, especially as we were told over and over before Dawn arrived at Ceres that would see a smooth marble of a world with no visible craters over the equatorial regions. [link to cdn4.sci-news.com] This is because the most popular model of Ceres had a mantle of ice overlying rock. I wrote a post about how I thought Ceres would have to be a more homogeneous world than had been thought. Thread: Rosetta Comet Orbiter -** 120 Icy Patches ** Philae Phones Home ** Ceres Fly Over Video ** New Coma Discovery ** Picture MOTHER LODE ! (Page 62) So far I haven't heard any of the experts pointing this out, maybe I am misunderstanding something, but it looks like Ceres does not have a pure ice mantle to me.

The whole surface is very irregular, "lumpy", with plenty of high crater walls. Look at the height of the spot 1 crater [link to dawn.jpl.nasa.gov] More than one mountain [link to dawn.jpl.nasa.gov] Lots of vertical relief and complex craters. [link to dawn.jpl.nasa.gov]

Spot 5 is a popular one, here it is looking less saturated and showing more detail than ever. [link to dawn.jpl.nasa.gov]

K

That's very good news. It's what they have been hoping for for a few months now. I haven't seen any new telemetry from Philae for a couple of days now. I hope they manage a more stable link soon.

K

Using the high-resolution science camera on ESA’s Rosetta Mission, scientists have identified more than a hundred patches of water ice - a few metres in size - on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.


Ice on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
24 June 2015

Using the high-resolution science camera on board ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft, scientists have identified more than a hundred patches of water ice a few metres in size on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Rosetta arrived at the comet in August 2014 at a distance of about 100 km and eventually orbited the comet at 10 km or less, allowing high-resolution images of the surface to be acquired.

A new study just published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics focuses on an analysis of bright patches of exposed ice on the comet’s surface.

Based on observations of the gas emerging from comets, they are known to be rich in ices. As they move closer to the Sun along their orbits, their surfaces are warmed and the ices sublimate into gas, which streams away from the nucleus, dragging along dust particles embedded in the ice to form the coma and tail.

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read more + pictures here:

[link to www.esa.int]

Today's beautiful ‪‎CometWatch‬ entry captures Rosetta's view of Comet 67P/C-G on 15 June from a distance of 207km.

CometWatch 15 June

The resolution is 17.7 m/pixel and the image measures 18.1 km across.

Link:
[link to blogs.esa.int]

And how 67P looks from Earth: [link to lesia.obspm.fr]

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Great image, it is not that much worse this one taken nearby [link to blogs.esa.int] page [link to blogs.esa.int] The ESO guys had the advantage of 8400 mm aperture over 400 mm and an extra 330 million euros to pay for their toy.

K

Double award for Rosetta scientists

Another great week for Rosetta scientists this week when Dr Matt Taylor, plasma physicist and Rosetta project scientist and Dr Brian May, astrophysicist and creator of the first stereoscopic view of comet 67P Thread: Rosetta Comet Orbiter -** 120 Icy Patches ** Philae Phones Home ** Ceres Fly Over Video ** New Coma Discovery ** Picture MOTHER LODE ! (Page 5) both collected awards.

Appearing on stage together at the Metal Hammer golden Gods award 2015 ceremony [link to www.skymania.com] Dr May presented Dr Taylor with the "Spirit of Hammer award" with this glowing citation [link to www.brianmay.com] How far into the speech do you think he got before they started throwing bottles of urine at him? Dr Taylor returned the compliment by presenting Dr May with the prestigious " Riff Lord Award, 2015", having been presented last year to Professor Toni Iommi.

Controversially, Dr Taylor, who " came on with his arms raised, like a rock star, to chants of 'Taylor, Taylor' from the audience" appeared in a shirt decorated with heavenly bodies whereas Dr May played it safe by continuing his 50 year long habit of impersonating Sir Isaac Newton. [link to www2.b3ta.com]

Meanwhile Fred Jansen has been delivering his how to land on a comet speech to TED, again,



[link to instagram.com (secure)] This time he only got 10 minutes in before TED said, "Fred, just remembered, I left something in the oven, great to see you again, must dash".

K

ESA are reporting they had contact with Philae again last night, but the live Philae telemetry page is now missing all the data that was on there, not just the most recent contacts. [link to isee3.p3s.nl]

I'm not that good with inventing conspiracies so you can fill in the blanks..

The ESA Philae telemetry page is is not completely censored because _______ don't want you to see the _________ . _________ is about to make full disclosure of _________ but TPTB won't allow ________ to make his speech until ________ _______ Nibiru.

K

Yesterday Rosetta completed a burn to improve its aspect to Philae to get a more reliable connection to the lander.

Currently I have an IP range ban, meh!, is it worth the effort?

K

Me too.





Comet 67P/C-G and its stunning activity viewed by Rosetta on 21 June from a distance of 177 km

CometWatch 21 June

Today's CometWatch entry is a single frame NAVCAM image taken on 21 June, when Rosetta was 177 km from the centre of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The resolution is 15.1 m/pixel and the image measures 15.4 km across.

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read more here + pictures
[link to blogs.esa.int]

Sinkholes should have been announced today....no mention of it so far...

Update...
***IGNORE...****
(Sorry)

Last Edited by TheWatcher-Anonymous Hero on 07/02/2015 05:11 AM

A number of the dust jets emerging from Rosetta’s comet can be traced back to active pits that were likely formed by a sudden collapse of the surface. High-resolution OSIRIS images of these ‘sinkholes’ are providing a glimpse at the chaotic and diverse interior of the comet.




1 July 2015

A number of the dust jets emerging from Rosetta’s comet can be traced back to active pits that were likely formed by a sudden collapse of the surface. These ‘sinkholes’ are providing a glimpse at the chaotic and diverse interior of the comet.

Rosetta has been monitoring Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko’s activity for over a year, watching how its halo of dust and gas grows as the comet moves closer to the Sun along its orbit.

From a distance of a few hundred kilometres, Rosetta observes an intricate pattern of the dust jets emitted from the nucleus as they stream out into space. But now, thanks to high-resolution images from the OSIRIS camera from distances of just 10–30 km from the comet centre last year, at least some of these dust jets can be traced back to specific locations on the surface, the first time this has ever been seen.

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read more + pictures:

[link to www.esa.int]

K. Hall.... Where are you?



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 on the power to CONSERT on 5 July 2015, the lander did not respond. Philae’s team began to wonder if the lander had survived on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

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read more here:

[link to blogs.esa.int]

Still no sign of life from K.Hall

Where are you?



This single frame Rosetta Mission navigation camera image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken on 25 June from a distance of 168 km from the comet.

This single frame Rosetta navigation camera image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken on 25 June 2015 from a distance of 168 km from the comet centre. The image has a resolution of 14.3 m/pixel and measures 14.6 km across.

The original image and more information is available on the blog: CometWatch 25 June

[link to www.esa.int]

Video:

Published on Jul 21, 2015

It is almost a year since the Rosetta spacecraft began orbiting comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 6 August 2014. The orbiter’s eleven instruments are studying the comet at different wavelengths - infrared, ultraviolet, microwave and radio – as well as gathering high-resolution images and information about its shape, density, temperature and chemical composition.

read more here + video:

Hope he is okay. Maybe this will bring him back. He used to love my posts...

Check this out. Jean-Pierre Bibring's presentation back in June. Kinda sounds like he puts the kibosh on icy dirtball model (with ice being the cement that forms comets). Watch from 1:006:00 to 1:09:00. Fascinating development.

[link to www.esa.int]