Rosetta spacecraft arrived in orbit of a comet. Time for landing – Money.pl

2014-08-06 14:35

[Photo: PAP / EPA]

Satellite closer to the nucleus of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at a rate of about 1.5 meters per second. August 22 will start taking pictures and other tests.

Message was announced at the ESA satellite control center in Darmstadt, Germany in front of about 200 journalists. Rosetta orbiting the nucleus at a height of 25 to 150 km search for a suitable location for the November deposition on the surface of the nucleus lander Philae.

Previously thought that having a size of three to five kilometers kernel discovered in the 1969 comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has the shape of a rugby ball. Made by Rosetta during maneuvers approximation of the pictures revealed, however, that it is asymmetric creation of contours duck.

One of the instruments of the lander Philae, a special hammer that bite into the nucleus of the comet, was built by Polish scientists from the Centre Space Research. The lander will take the first ever direct physical examination of the comet matter which should expand our knowledge about the origins of the solar system.

To get to the comet, Rosetta utilized to increase the speed of their gravitational fields of the planets, approaching this purpose in 2005-2009 the Earth three times and once to Mars. Therefore, with respect to the sun trajectory of the probe has a shape expanding spiral.

Since this figure almost spiral orbit of Jupiter, Rosetta over a longer period was in a much reduced area compared to the intensity of solar radiation Earth. Therefore, in July 2011, on-board equipment of the probe introduced into sleep mode to activate it in January of this year, when the solar panels could again reach the required power.