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The Unprecedented Rosetta mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
The document provides a comprehensive overview of the Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, detailing its historical context, scientific significance, and the mission's timeline from launch in 2004 to its rendezvous in 2014. It discusses our evolving understanding of comets, their origins, and their physical characteristics, emphasizing the importance of studying these celestial bodies. The mission utilized advanced technologies and strategies to successfully map and characterize the comet, marking a significant achievement in space exploration.
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The Unprecedented Rosetta mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
- 1. The Unprecedented RosettaMission to Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko Prof. Thomas Madigan
- 2. Overview • Historicalretrospective of comets • The Dawn of the Modern Era and a New Intellectual Renaissance • Our Modern Understanding of Comets • Why study comets? • The Importance of visiting Comet 67P/C-G –Why this comet? • The 67P/C-G Mission
- 3. Since antiquity cometswere thought of as harbingers of doom. The word “disaster” is derived from the Greek word meaning “bad star” and was often used to refer to the appearance of a comet within the context of a certain calamity
- 4. dis·as·ter Origin •late 16th century: from Italian disastro ‘ill-starred event,’ from dis- (expressing negation) + astro ‘star’ (from Latin astrum ).
- 5. Antiquity The Greeks – Some suggest that comets are solar system objects like planets – Others suggest that they were burning clouds or optical phenomena in the Earth’s atmosphere – Aristotle (400 BC), a Geocentrist, adopts this later view, suggesting that comets are "windy exhalations“ from the Earth
- 6. The 1066 apparitionof Halley's Comet occurred during the Battle of Hastings and is represented in the Bayeux Tapestry (scenes 32- 33). Credit: By Myrabella
- 7. • Apparition ofComet 44 BC – Death of Julius Ceasar • 1910 apparition of Halley’s Comet the Earth passed through the comet's tail and erroneous newspaper reports inspired a fear that cyanogen in the tail might poison millions • Comet Hale–Bopp in 1997 triggered the mass suicide of the Heaven's Gate cult
- 8. The Beginnings ofModernity and the Scientific Revolution (The Dawn of Reason) Copernicus Publishes De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) just before his death in 1543, proposing a Heliocentric model of the solar system Is renowned as the “Father of Modern Astronomy” for rekindling this idea, for proposing a model “More Pleasing to the Mind”
- 10. Tycho Brahe –Meticulous observations of the planets at Uraniburg on the island of Hven (Denmark) – Proposes the use of careful experiments rather than lengthy philosophical debates – computes the distance to the Great Comet of 1577 using the parallax method – Subsequently proposes a hybrid model that includes aspects of the Geocentric and Heliocentric models
- 11. The path ofthe comet Tycho Brahe saw in 1577, in his hybrid geo/heliocentric model.
- 12.
- 13. Kepler’s 3 Laws 1) All Orbits are Elliptical 2) Equal areas are swept out in equal times
- 14. 3) The squaresThe Copernican of the periods of Revolution the planets are proportional to the cubes of their semi-major axes: P2 = A3 . Thus P A 3 Example: Distance to Saturn (Saturn’s SMA) = 9.5 AU 3 P 9.5 857.375 29.3 yrs Said differently, the period varies P A3 as the 3/2 power of the semi-major axis To find the semi-major axis, A, in terms of the period 3 2 A P Example: Period of Comet 67P/C-G = 6.45 yrs 3 2 3 A 6.45 41.54 3.46 AU
- 15. Galileo Uses theScientific Method and extensive use of the telescope as an instrument of science to demonstrate the veracity of the Copernican model Renowned as the Father of Modern Science
- 16. Isaac Newton •Develops Classical Mechanics and Laws of Motion • Develops The Law of Universal Gravitation • Publishes Principia Mathematica • Along with Liebnitz, develops Calculus • Renowned as one of the most influential scientists of all time and a key figure in the scientific revolution
- 18. Our Modern Understandingof Comets Today, we know comets are left over debris from the formation of the solar system, most of which originate in the Oort cloud, a vast spherical halo beginning at about 250 times Pluto’s distance from the sun
- 20. Our Modern Understandingof Comets Comets have a wide range of orbital periods and orbital eccentricities. Short period comets originate in the Kuiper belt, a debris disk beyond the orbit of Neptune and Pluto. The longer period comets originate in the Oort cloud.
- 23.
- 24. Why Study Comets? Comets are composed of material unadulterated since the formation of the solar system
- 26. What is thetrue nature of a comet? Does it always present with a beautiful tail or is it something quite different? Lets take a look
- 28.
- 30. How do cometscompare to other objects? Cities 4 – 8 KM? Oceans 3,000 KM? Planets 10,000 KM? Stars (the sun) 700,000 KM (radius)?
- 31. 3.5 km 4km
- 32. The Nucleus isthe loosely bound agglomeration of debris held together by ice of various compositions. This is the “dormant” state of the comet This material “activates” as the comet approaches the sun and begins to warm. This process forms the “Coma”
- 34. What happens toa comet as it approaches the sun? Lets take a look
- 35.
- 36. Why does thetail form and what is it comprised of?
- 37. Why does thetail form and what is it comprised of? – As the comet approaches the sun, the nucleus begins to warm and the ice starts to sublimate (evaporate)
- 38. Why does thetail form and what is it comprised of? – As the comet approaches the sun, the nucleus begins to warm and the ice starts to sublimate (evaporate) – At about 1 AU from the sun, the tail forms, pushed out by Solar Wind and Radiation Pressure
- 39. Why does thetail form and what is it comprised of? – As the comet approaches the sun, the nucleus begins to warm and the ice starts to sublimate (evaporate) – At about 1 AU from the sun, the tail forms, pushed out by Solar Wind and Radiation Pressure – Solar radiation pressure forms a dust tail
- 40. Why does thetail form and what is it comprised of? – As the comet approaches the sun, the nucleus begins to warm and the ice starts to sublimate (evaporate) – At about 1 AU from the sun, the tail forms, pushed out by Solar Wind and Radiation Pressure – Solar radiation pressure forms a dust tail – Solar Ultraviolet radiation forms a gas-ion tail
- 41. Why does thetail form and what is it comprised of? – As the comet approaches the sun, the nucleus begins to warm and the ice starts to sublimate (evaporate) – At about 1 AU from the sun, the tail forms, pushed out by Solar Wind and Radiation Pressure – Solar radiation pressure forms a dust tail – Solar Ultraviolet radiation forms a gas-ion tail – The Solar wind pushes the gas-ion tail in the opposite direction
- 42. Why does thetail form and what is it comprised of? – As the comet approaches the sun, the nucleus begins to warm and the ice starts to sublimate (evaporate) – At about 1 AU from the sun, the tail forms, pushed out by Solar Wind and Radiation Pressure – Solar radiation pressure forms a dust tail – Solar Ultraviolet radiation forms a gas-ion tail – The Solar wind pushes the gas-ion tail in the opposite direction – The gas-ion tail follows the magnetic field lines
- 44. Comet McNaught priorto Perihelion, 10 January, 2007
- 45. What happens next? The comet passes around the sun at Perihelion or The comet becomes a “Sun-grazing” comet
- 46. Comet McNaught afterPerihelion, 20 January, 2007!
- 47. Comet McNaught afterPerihelion, 20 January, 2007!
- 51.
- 52. Why Comet 67P/C-G • Long standing desire to rendezvous with a comet
- 53. Why Comet 67P/C-G • Long standing desire to rendezvous with a comet • Target of opportunity
- 54.
- 55. The 67P/C-G Mission • Launched on 2 March, 2004
- 56.
- 57. The 67P/C-G Mission • Launched on 2 March, 2004 • Gravity assists and various maneuvers
- 58. The 67P/C-G Mission • Launched on 2 March, 2004 • Gravity assists and various manuvers • Enter deep space hibernation 8 June, 2011
- 59. The 67P/C-G Mission • Launched on 2 March, 2004 • Gravity assists and various manuvers • Enter deep space hibernation 8 June, 2011 • Exit deep space hibernation 20, January 2014
- 61. The 67P/C-G Mission • Launched on 2 March, 2004 • Gravity assists and various manuvers • Enter deep space hibernation 8 June, 2011 • Exit deep space hibernation 20, January 2014 • 6 August, 2014 – Rendezvous with 67P/C-G on, approaching to within 100 km, reducing its velocity to 1 m/sec
- 63. The 67P/C-G Mission • Launched on 2 March, 2004 • 6 August, 2014 – Rendezvous with 67P/C-G on, approaching to within 100 km, reducing its velocity to 1 m/sec – Commences comet mapping and characterization to determine a stable orbit and viable landing location for Philae lander • 10 September 2014 – Rosetta enters the Global Mapping Phase, orbiting 67/C-G at an altitude of 29 km
- 66. The 67P/C-G Mission • Launched on 2 March, 2004 • 6 August, 2014 – Rendezvous with 67P/C-G on, approaching to within 100 km, reducing its velocity to 1 m/sec – Commences comet mapping and characterization to determine a stable orbit and viable landing location for Philae lander • 10 September 2014 – Rosetta enters the Global Mapping Phase, orbiting 67/C-G at an altitude of 29 km • 15 September, 2014 – "Site J" on the "head" of the comet selected as the landing site for Philae
- 71. The Rosetta orbiter The Rosetta orbiter carries an instrument suite of 11 science instrument packages
- 76. Philae, The RosettaLander The Philae lander carries 10 science instrument packages
- 79. The 67P/C-G Mission The importance of ground-based observations of Comet 67P/C-G with the VLT
- 80. The 67P/C-G Mission The importance of ground-based observations of Comet 67P/C-G with the VLT – Rosetta is operating in the comet’s coma!
- 82. Why did ittake 12 years?
- 83. Why did ittake 12 years? – The required rendezvous velocity was 16 km/sec
- 84. Why did ittake 12 years? – The required rendezvous velocity was 16 km/sec – The average cruise velocity of Rosetta was 20 km/sec
- 85. Why did ittake 12 years? – The required rendezvous velocity was 16 km/sec – The average cruise velocity of Rosetta was 20 km/sec – At times, the comet was traveling at 34 km/sec in its orbit
- 86. Why did ittake 12 years? – The required rendezvous velocity was 16 km/sec – The average cruise velocity of Rosetta was 20 km/sec – At times, the comet was traveling at 34 km/sec in its orbit – To negotiate the complex trajectory necessary to intercept the comet, Rosetta needed 3 gravity assists from Earth and one from Mars
- 88. Where is RosettaToday? http://sci.esa.int/where_is_rosetta