Rosetta Mars Flyby, Info and Links Options

[djellison]

As you might all know by now - I'm heading to ESOC for the media event that ties in with the flyby and so with a lot of help from Emily and the Rosetta Science Operations Centre at ESA - I've done a flyby chart...just the imaging instruments, but it's fairly usefull. Emily's got a vertical one in the works in the same style as her excellent New Horizons timeline.

Other interesting resources...

http://www.space.irfu.se/rosetta/sci/mars/
http://www.cosis.net/abstracts/EGU2007/069...88baf6c8092ff18
http://spaceurope.blogspot.com/2007/02/ros...ng-lessons.html
http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/dsp_mars.cfm?b...uttonSelL2=mars
http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/dsp_aliceMars....uttonSelL2=mars
http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/dsp_miroMars.c...uttonSelL2=mars
http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/dsp_iesMars.cf...uttonSelL2=mars

And - in CET ( one hour ahead of UT )
25 February 2007, 2 a.m. start

02:00 - Doors open & Filming opportunity in Mission Control Room
02:40 - Welcome by David Southwood, ESA Director of Science Programme
02:50 - Rosetta Mars swingby the manoeuvres and flight dynamics, Uwe Feucht, Head of Flight Dynamics Division/Team
03:00 - En route science, first images, Gerhard Schwehm, Head of Solar System Science Operations Division & Rosetta Mission Manager
03:10 - Introductory comments on approach ; Paolo Ferri, Head of Solar and Planetary Missions Division and Rosetta Flight Operations Director Comments on eclipse, Andrea Accomazzo, Rosetta Spacecraft Operations Manager Comments on closest approach/eclipse, Andrea Accomazzo & Paolo Ferri
03:15 - Closest approach to Mars, eclipse starts
03:17 - Ground stations, Manfred Lugert, Head of Ground Facilities Operations Division
03:28 - Occultation ends - signal back
03:30 - Imagery from Rosetta and Mars Express , Uwe Keller, Mas-Planck Institute
03:40 - Comments on eclipse end and telemetry acquisition, Andrea Accomazzo,
03:52 - Conclusions, Manfred Warhaut, Head of Mission Operations Department
04 :00 - End of event


I'd say I was looking forward to it....but that's somehow not quite enough.

Also attached - Anim Gif of 1 frame per hour flyby

Doug

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[elakdawalla]

I don't mind posting a preview of the timeline here in case anybody wants to have a look and correct my usual errors or make any suggestions. (Yes, I know it says "1997" at the top; that's how I'm hiding it from general view )

--Emily

[Stu]

First of all, congratulations to Doug on his new post as UMSF Ambasador to ESA. Seriously, just reward for all your hard work and dedication to Mars exploration in particular and space science Outreach in general. You'll do a fine job there, and I'm sure there'll be plenty of us online at the time to keep you and each other company and share the encounter.

I'm looking forward to seeing the close-ups, of course, but I can't wait to see those crescent images. For some reason, for me personally crescent planetary portraits have always been more aesthetically pleasing than full discs. Not sure why, they just are. Maybe it's because I always used to draw crescent Moons in the sky of my pictures when I was a kid (even in daytime pictures, haha, how my teachers told me off for that!!)... maybe it's because a crescent Moon looks so much prettier through my telescope... don't know... but the crescent images of Jupiter returned by recent missions, and more recently Cassini's (well, Ian's!) crescent Saturn portraits have always amazed me, so a crescent Mars - which I've simulated in Celestia etc many times - will be quickly inserted into my Outreach Powerpoint presentations.

Bring it on!!

[djellison]

Well - I've not been able to find anything about Philae, the lander, during it's 3 hour phase of operating on its own....but it's cameras should, I think, provide a spectacular view of Mars - and i'm trying to make a little movie of that segment using Dave Seals frankly awesome Solar System Simulator

I'm looking forward to it - it's going to be a flying visit and I'm not sure just how much of a 'live' blogging I will be able to do - but hopefully I provide something more than what people will get from just watching ESA TV

Doug

[ustrax]

Doug, I'm sure you'll do a great work...

Here's one more important link (including a vodcast)

And Philae's fact sheet

Have a safe travel and may ESA treat you well...

EDITED: Philae instruments to be used on the Lander: CIVA imaging system + ROMAP (the plasma instrument and Magnetometer) + the Standard Radiation Monitor.
Lander instruments can run through closest approach as the Lander has it own power system running on batteries.

[ugordan]

Apologies if this was already addressed somewhere, but will there be a webcast of the event? There are those of us who don't pick up ESA TV...

[djellison]

I would imagine there will be something here - http://television.esa.int/default.cfm

Sorting out my stuff ( laptop, mini-disc recorder for interviews and press con. etc ) and my colleague Josh had a GREAT idea...



Maybe not

Doug

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[djellison]

And - courtesy of the brilliance that is Dave Seal's Solar System Sim ( http://space.jpl.nasa.gov )

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/doug_im...philae_mars.mov ( 3 meg )

This is the view of Mars at 1 minute per frame and played at 15 frames per second (i.e. 1hr = 4 seconds) during the three hours of Philae operations during the middle of the flyby.

Doug

[ustrax]

Martian...rings?!
Rosetta is a must...

EDITED: Doug...That's superb!

[tedstryk]

Is there any significant difference in capability between Omega and Virtis?

[djellison]

Well -

Omega
Imaging capability

128 contiguous, across track fields of view, each of 1.2 mrad, corresponding to < 500 m at periapsis

Spectral capability

352 contiguous spectral channels to acquire the entire spectrum from 0.36 to 5.2 µm for each resolved pixel

Photometric capability

SNR > 100 over the full spectral range, allowing the identification of percentage absorptions and thermal variations



VIRTIS

The imaging channel VIRTIS-M is required to provide
a minimum signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 100 in both
spectral ranges, 0.25 - 1.0 mm and 1-5 mm at the
nominal sampling under the measurement baseline
conditions relative to the mapping and close
observation phase, which is considered as the design
driver for VIRTIS-M.
The high-resolution channel VIRTIS-H is required to
perform high resolution spectroscopy in the spectral
range between 2 and 5 mm. The above mentioned
scientific requirements imply for VIRTIS-H to provide
a SNR better than 100 and a minimum resolving power
of 1000 to resolve molecular bands. VIRTIS-H design
is driven by the requirements in both the mapping
phase and the coma observation phase, that lasts until
the comet is escorted to its perihelion.

(from http://servirtis.obspm.fr/virtis/virtis_exp.html )


At the sort of range that Virtis will be working (i.e. not CA) - It's going to be lower res than Omega - but higher spectral res ( 3x by my guessing )

Doug

[ustrax]

03:00 - En route science, first images, Gerhard Schwehm, Head of Solar System Science Operations Division & Rosetta Mission Manager

Doug

I've just received an e-mail from Dr. Schwehm pointing out that the schedule you present (taken from here)is not updated:

"I will briefly present the overall mission objective - Uwe Keller will show
some of the first images from the approach to Mars, a panoramic view of Mars
and hopefully images of Phobos.

So we hope to get some of the results from the approach phase during the
night."

Don't miss it!

This post has been edited.

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

An update:

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Rosetta/SEMR7IBE8YE_0.html

[Harder]

Doug,
if I recall correctly one of the ESA papers on the Pioneer Anomaly stated that the Rosetta spacecraft would not be suitable for measurements which would be accurately enough to further narrow down the observed anomaly.
Is that a 100% no-no, or is there some possibility after all of ESA using this Mars swing-by for further investigations?
I'm sure the Rosetta navigational accuracy is second-to-none if ESA aims at only 250 km distance from Mars at 36000 km/hr, but that is not the only factor. The "noise" from spacecraft stabilization and very large solar panels probably drowns any potential PA effect.

[elakdawalla]

As far as I understand things the Pioneer Anomaly can only be studied with spin-stabilized, not three-axis-stabilized, spacecraft. Rosetta is three-axis stabilized.

--Emily

[djellison]

I'm sure the Rosetta navigational accuracy is second-to-none if ESA aims at only 250 km distance from Mars at 36000 km/hr,

Using the European DDOR ability that I mentioned in my Valencia blog - they're currently within 5km of that target point, which isn't bad

Emilys points about P.A. stuff is very true - which is why Voyager can't really help - but NH can during some of it's pseudo-hibernated cruise phases.

Doug

[Guest_John Flushing_*]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6375717.stm

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/02/22/r...reut/index.html

hmmmm...
Quoting:"For 24 minutes, it will lose the source of power for its major instruments, leaving it reliant on a brace of tiny batteries which were not designed for the task. In the worst case, the probe may fail to reestablish contact with Earth when it emerges on the other side of the red planet."
Could this be compared to the "deep sleep" mode of the Mars Rovers?

[djellison]

First blog entry
http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00000876/

[nprev]

...and, he's off! Well, done, Doug!

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

First image published:

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMM15CE8YE_index_0.html

[nprev]

Beautiful!!!

Just occurred to me how spoiled we are...a Mars flyby this week, a Jupiter flyby next week, two Mars rovers, three working Mars orbiters, a Venus orbiter, and Cassini...what a great time to be a UMSFer!

[djellison]

And that's not even a science product...didn't see that one coming at all.

[nprev]

Really? Odd...you'd think that they'd alert the press corps for nice photo-ops like that.

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

Well, it will take some time We have to wait until after the eclipse, then the images to be sent... According to ESA's website we'll have to wait until 13:00...

And yes, it's a great time to be UMSFer

[volcanopele]

If I understand the first post, we should be able to expect images between 2 and 3 am CET (I think), so that makes it between 6 and 7 pm MST...

[volcanopele]

Martian...rings?!
Rosetta is a must...

EDITED: Doug...That's superb!

Interesting. Given the results at Cassini that suggest that suggest dust rings are common with small moons, it would be a good idea to check this with Phobos and Deimos. But I don't think the BBC article explains why Rosetta is uniquely positioned to look for dust rings effectively. It has nothing to do really with resolution, but with phase angle. Rosetta will observe Mars at very high phase on its outbound leg, which is great position to look for rings made of very fine dust particles. Remember, it took very high phase observations at Saturn to reveal the Pallene ring and the Janus-Epimetheus ring.

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

If I understand the first post, we should be able to expect images between 2 and 3 am CET (I think), so that makes it between 6 and 7 pm MST...

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Rosetta/SEMR7IBE8YE_0.html

After 13:00 - Results expected to be available on ESA portal

Maybe it's the same situation with the images. I do hope that some of them will be published before 13:00

[elakdawalla]

If you're all wondering why Doug hasn't posted anything lately it's because, to our surprise, there appears to be no way for him to get on the Net from ESOC! So we're going to do things the old fashioned way -- he'll be phoning me with an update before long. Stay tuned.

--Emily

[nprev]

Thanks, Emily. Kinda figured there was a comm problem of some sort!

[Stu]

Morning anyone else crazy enough to be up at this ungodly hour...

I'm almost as baffled why ESA isn't showing this live on EAS internet TV as I am why Doug can't get online... What do those guys use to talk to each other over there, Coke cans connected with string..?

Anyone else about, or am I sat here on my own..?

[ugordan]

First blog entry
http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00000876/

Doug, not to nit-pick, but isn't that 0.0000075 cm/sec figure awfully large? Mars is many, many orders of magnitude more massive than Rosetta than the 2191/0.000000075 figure implies. Am I missing something here?

[Stu]

Emily... any idea what the yellow toy mascot is, sat on top of the console there?

( I remember when we were all waiting for Beagle to phone home; the Beagle mascot was whipped off the consoles very shortly after the probe was meant to report in, so I emailed them asking them to please put it back as Beagle wasn't dead yet... it reappeared shortly after... a coincidence I'm sure... )

[elakdawalla]

No idea! I'll try and remember to ask Doug to find out.

I'm feeding a baby...cooking dinner...watching the webcam...waiting for Doug's call...drinking a beer...this is true multitasking!

--Emily

[Stu]

Very impressed by your multi-tasking Emily! I'm sat here at 02.20 (an hour behind Doug), looking like a James Bond villain as I try to simultaneously stroke a white cat sat on my knee whilst tapping away on my PC, alternating between looking at your Blog, this UMSF page and the ESOC webcam and working on the Powerpoint presentation for my next school talk at the same time...

[nprev]

Emily reports that Doug reports LOS from Rosetta dead on time...trajectory appears nominal.

[Stu]

Emily is reporting on her Blog that Doug has phoned to confirm Rosetta's signal has returned as scheduled, so all appears well. The Great probe-eating Ghoul of Mars let another one go!

Also, the mascot's name is Orville and he's a duck. Ain't it wonderful that we spend gazillions of dollars, Euros and pieces of gold-pressed latinum on these spaceprobes, hurl them into the depths of space, calculate their trajectories and positions to the nth decimal place with supercomputers, convinced that the laws of physics will triumph... and then put a soft toy of a duck on top of a monitor for luck... Human beings, gotta love 'em!

Right, back to bed for me, I'm at work tomorrow... look forward to sharing the pictures with all of you later...

[djellison]

What time is it.

What day is it.

Osiris observation from about 100,000km out in just Red and Green filters fudged to make a colour image - presented by Horst Uwe Keller, PI for OSIRIS.

Since 0730 on Friday - I've had 4 hours sleep. Going to do a brief "that was fun" blog entry - with a more verbose entry at about 1300 tomorrow.

This post was brought to you by Red Bull. Other caffine drinks are available.

Other pictures are available here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/doug_ellison_tps/

Doug

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[ElkGroveDan]

Stu is reporting that Emily is reporting Doug's report that all is well. Give that man a bottle of Lipovitan-D!

[nprev]

Argh...poor Doug! Intrepid reporting in difficult circumstances, my friend; major kudos and sincere thanks to you & Emily from us all!!!

[tedstryk]

New image up!

[antipode]

Oh now that is something! What anb unusual viewing geometery!
I love the cload layers on the limb, and that polar hood!

P

[lyford]

Well, the duck mascot I can understand, but why is there a book on "power poker" on the monitor beside it?

[mchan]

With HiRise providing great views of the leaves, it's the shots like these that remind us of the forest the leaves are in. And it's a beautiful forest.

[dilo]

Nice to know that OSIRIS Narrow-Angle Camera is equipped with a 2kx2k sensor!
Correct me if I'm wrong, this is the widest bi-dimensional sensor ever flight in a spaceprobe...

Addendum: at this site you'll find some nice pictures aquired in 2004/2005 (I do not know is someone published them).

[Stu]

That is a BEAUTIFUL image. Please, any gods that are listening, let someone at ESA realise what a treasure they have there and make sure they wave it like a banner at every opportunity possible, instead of hiding it away...

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

And, Stu, don't forget that the top icecream pleasure will be the pics of Phobos

[Stu]

I know a lot of people are looking forward to those but sorry, that's my top ice cream view right there - the planet itself, looking like a real world against the blackness of space. As mchan said so well earlier, with all these close-up mega-zoomed in MRO views, and eye-level postcards from Oppy and Spirit, we can lose sight of what a beautiful planet Mars as. Let's hope ESA uses these images wisely and squeezes every last drop of publicity - and more importantly, Outreach - value out of them.

[JTN]

Some nice OSIRIS limb images in this ESA release -- I think this includes all the images we saw in Doug's photos.

[SFJCody]

I know a lot of people are looking forward to those but sorry, that's my top ice cream view right there - the planet itself, looking like a real world against the blackness of space.

Yep, this is a good replacement for that overused Viking composite view of Mars centered on Valles Marineris. Maybe just a bit too too colour saturated, but otherwise fine.

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

It's almost 13:00. Maybe we'll have the second set of images soon.

[ugordan]

I tweaked the red/green image a bit to give it a more Hubble-esque appearance. This, of course, to ease our wait for the full color official release.


EDIT: Updated with a cleaned-up version removing some camera artifacts.

[Stu]

ugordan...

There it is, right there: that's why we love that volcano-covered, canyon-slashed, crater-pocked world. In that one picture you can see why so many of fell, and continue to fall, in love with Mars... blue-white clouds wafting over the stony deserts; ancient volcanoes standing proud above dusty plains...

Thank you ugordan for giving us that. I now have a new "Mars" opening slide for my talks.

[JTN]

As far as I understand things the Pioneer Anomaly can only be studied with spin-stabilized, not three-axis-stabilized, spacecraft. Rosetta is three-axis stabilized.

That's what I thought too, but I've just found this text on an ESA Rosetta website:

Pioneer Anomaly
First observed with the NASA Pioneer spacecraft, the anomaly represents a deviation in the expected change in spacecraft velocity and trajectory against observations. Scientists are not certain if the anomaly is caused by an unknown physical process, or if it is simply down to the uncertainties in measurements and analytical calculations. A test will be carried out using a MASER signal sent from the ground based tracking stations.

[ugordan]

Thanks, Stu! If you think this one is cool, you should wait for the official image with a proper blue channel before you pick your opening images.
I suspect that might look a lot like this one.

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

I'd like to see a composite image after snatching photos through IR+Green+Blue filter.

[Stu]

Thanks, Stu! If you think this one is cool, you should wait for the official image with a proper blue channel before you pick your opening images.

Yeah, I will, but time and time again now I find myself looking at "official" images and thinking "Hmmm, xxxx did it better on UMSF..." That's not to say that UMSF images are better or more accurate, it's just that, well, without sounding all corny, I think that people here use an extra filter for their images, one labelled "Love of Mars", you know?

(cue sound of multiple UMSF members reaching for a sick bucket!)

[djellison]

I'd wait for the out-bound images from ESA...they should be very very very special. That distant inbound image is nice - it trumps HST stuff - and it does look more 3d than your average Mars shot.....BUT....

This is the sort of shot I'm looking forward to.

Keller was a really nice chap - chatted to him for a while - he liked the fact that because I was 'from' TPS as he said "ahh...knowledgeable bunch" - and we talked cameras for a while. I mentioned how stunning the approach image was from a few weeks ago and he said that he loved it because it's really not a big telescope of a camera - 700mm FL at f8 - and he then said each image is fairly big - about 5 mbits - and I remarked on the large 2048x2048 ccd ( to act knowledgeable ) and he said he thought it might be the best camera flying right now. I added it is possibly the best framing camera flying - and he conceeded that pushbroom, obviously HiRISE takes the honours. He's a really nice guy - and I think he gets the value of Kodak moment pictures - but I couldn't get out of him just what the outbound sequence was like.

Also - throughout all of last night there was almost no mention of Philae. They said it was going to be on, taking pictures in in-situ obs - but not what pictures it would be taking, when, in what filters etc etc. They could be stunning - as 'mum' was essentially turned off for the closest part of the flyby.

Doing a better write up now for the blog

I have a couple of hours of continuous recording of the media room from last night - would it be worth chopping it up, encoding it and uploading it for true diehard enthusiasts? It'd have to be about . The funnies tthing is that CA went totally totally un-noticed

Doug

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[Stu]

Welcome back Doug! ("back" that is from the shadowy, internet-free interior of ESOC). Some of us got up early this morning to keep you company, only to find that you weren't actually 'there'... oh well, with you in spirit!

Yep, looking forward to those outbound shots - me being a crescent fanatic and all - but for public presentations (as you will know, cos you do so many yourself) I've always found that a whole disc image goes down best. It's a horrible, horrible generalisation, I know, but a LOT of People Out There think of planets as "round" and anything crescent shaped as "the Moon", so I try not to confuse them when I give a talk! I'm definitely going to use crescent Mars images in the Mars sections of my "Tour of the Solar System" and "Seven Wonders of the Universe" talks, but not at the beginning of it, that needs a full disc eye popper, and I reckon this is it.

Bring on the crescents tho!!

[4th rock from th...]

While waiting for new images I merged the Red Green NAC image with the UV NAC one, creating a proper Blue channel. Coverage is partial, but it looks nice.

[Stu]

New pics please... I need to go to work in ten mins...

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

Are all pictures on the website of ESA copyright free? I'd like to upload them on my website and post the link to the thread.

[tedstryk]

Yeah, I will, but time and time again now I find myself looking at "official" images and thinking "Hmmm, xxxx did it better on UMSF..." That's not to say that UMSF images are better or more accurate, it's just that, well, without sounding all corny, I think that people here use an extra filter for their images, one labelled "Love of Mars", you know?

(cue sound of multiple UMSF members reaching for a sick bucket!)

Yes, but when the version with a blue channel is out, Ugordan can work on that one too!

[Guest_Sunspot_*]

Wow!!

http://www.esa.int/images/CIVA_Mars_30_H.jpg

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

Philae lander... Just ... spectacular!

[ugordan]

That scene looks like it came from an SF movie! Looks like a bit overexposed, but the sharpness of the image is just WOW. Both Mars an solar arrays in focus... Just WOW!

[MarcF]

This picture is absolutely amazing !!!!!
I did not realize that the Philea lander was able to take such kind of pictures.
I'm looking forward for a lot more like that !
Marc.

[ugordan]

Is that picture actually color or simply colorized?

[nprev]

...oh, man...it's like you're looking out of a porthole on a Mars version of the ISS! Spectacular...

[mars loon]

Wow!!
http://www.esa.int/images/CIVA_Mars_30_H.jpg

Truly, that is beyond spectacular .... science and sci-fi

I'll be highlighting this at my outreach talks, this week and beyond ...... hoping for more

I cant recall anything like this in the history of Mars exploration. is there anything comparable at Mars?

a great follow-up to the ESA swing-by animations here (scroll down):
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMM15CE8YE_index_0.html

ken

[remcook]

simply amazing! I don't think there have been such 3rd person perspectives beyond earth+moon, has there?

[nprev]

The flyby's on Google News, CNN.com, etc., but all the articles are purely descriptive with no images. ESA's own press release on their webpage doesn't even have a link to them.

Not trying to criticize, just puzzled...these shots are pure gold, and would capture the imaginations of many people.

EDIT: Okay, this is more like it! Nice set of OSIRIS images posted:

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMUDT70LYE_index_0.html

Also, a full story on the Philae pic, which was apparently taken four minutes before periapsis:

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMFTZM0LYE_index_0.html


Finally, a technical question for Doug to ask if he'd like, if it hasn't been asked already: How much atmospheric drag did Rosetta experience, and did they modify the spacecraft's attitude or configuration in any way to offset this? Those high haze layers seen in the upper left quadrant of the full-disc OSIRIS image made me realize at a gut level that Mars' atmosphere isn't dense by any means, but it sure is deep...

[djellison]

http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00000883/

and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/doug_ellison_tps

Good question about the drag - but I left ESOC 12 horus ago and wont be able to get in and ask anyone now - it really was a short, sweet event - I will send an email and ask the right person though (ps - sent an email to Kristin who sent me the planning docs that helped make the flyby timelines)

My net access is about to die in the hotel so I'll be out of touch till I get home, monday lunchtime. More OSIRIS images should be out in about 7-8 hours.

Doug

[nprev]

Welcome back to the world of the living, man! Grab some more rest, you earned it & then some...

EDIT: Very good blog entry; gives a real sense of being there. Mission accomplished!

[gndonald]

That scene looks like it came from an SF movie! Looks like a bit overexposed, but the sharpness of the image is just WOW. Both Mars an solar arrays in focus... Just WOW!

I had exactly the same feeling when I saw it, except I thought it looked like a Chesley Bonestell illustration, it's just incredible... almost as if you're there...thanks ESA!!!

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/0702..._marsflyby.html

[nprev]

Yep...that's the Associated Press story that's on all the major news outlets. But...they forgot to include the pics!!!

[lyford]

I had exactly the same feeling when I saw it, except I thought it looked like a Chesley Bonestell illustration, it's just incredible... almost as if you're there...thanks ESA!!!

Ditto this - Thanks Doug for some truly excellent work!!!!

[mars loon]

Spaceflight now has posted this article WITH the stunning CIVA/Philae image. ken

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0702/25rosettamars/

Comet-bound probe enjoys close encounter with Mars
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: February 25, 2007

Europe's Rosetta comet probe shot past Mars early Sunday to line up for another swing by Earth later this year, putting the craft on course to reach its icy target in 2014.

Launched three years ago, Rosetta zoomed just 150 miles above the Martian surface at about 22,500 miles per hour relative to the Red Planet. The probe made its closest approach at 0215 GMT Sunday (9:15 p.m. EST Saturday) as it flew behind Mars and temporarily broke off communications with Earth.

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

Yep...that's the Associated Press story that's on all the major news outlets. But...they forgot to include the pics!!!

We, in Bulgaria, didn't forget to post some of the images here: http://www.space-bg.org/

More here:
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=21990
And here:
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=23437
Enjoy!

[nprev]

(whew!)...Thanks, Loon & Z...that's reassuring. Would hate to see these incredible images NOT receive the wide exposure they clearly deserve. To drag out that old chestnut yet again, "no bucks, no Buck Rogers". Effective PR is important. Thanks again!

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

nprev: I just have to do it We ( space-bg ) are the only spaceflight media in Bulgaria We have to show the images

I just checked the Emily blog:

http://planetary.org/blog/

I would add to this:
Yes, Rosetta, you were there. What saddens me is that you'll be back in 2009. You will be the first spacecraft to go to Mars and to get back to Earth. You should have carried a capsule and some aerogel, to throw us some atmospheric probes. Maybe next time... the next spacecraft.

[nprev]

Thanks, Z, for all you do!

Terrific blog entry by Emily; it is both odd and exciting to see a piece of the spacecraft with Mars as the backdrop. I guess that makes it all seem somehow more "real": that's really something made by human hands, and that's really Mars that it's flying by! Just looking at the wire runs making a 90 deg turn at the edge of the solar panel with Mars below was somehow thrilling...

Might be a good idea on future missions to arrange similar shots whenever possible...can you imagine seeing the rings of Saturn as well as, say, the magnetometer boom of Cassini in the same image? This adds immediacy & relevance, provides a connection if you will between our daily lives and frames of reference and the unknown...possibly very important in many ways.

[fredk]

Is that picture actually color or simply colorized?

Transformed to hsl-space that CIVA image shows essentially constant hue over the mars portion. And the solar arrays are exactly grey. So it must be colourized. I could find no technical info on the CIVA cameras.

But gosh darnit, that's one of the coolest orbital views I've ever seen!!

edit: I couldn't've said it better, nprev. Ultra-realism in spacecraft imaging.

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

nprev : Yes, that's cool! And that's also a big success for ESA - Rosetta is the second successful Mars mission. Now we have one successful flyby and one successful orbiter.
Also a terrific picture should be an orbiter that snatches photo of a lander and the planet is in the background. Unfortunately, Beagle 2 wasn't in front of Mars when ESA snatched photos and the planet can't be seen.
Maybe we will see a separated lander and Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the background, or something like that. Minerva snatched a photo of Hayabusa after she left the mother craft, too...

[Guest_Sunspot_*]

I thought all the images were supposed to be released around 1pm local time in Europe? At least that's what was said on the website.

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMUDT70LYE_index_0.html

some of the images are being updated.

[Guest_John Flushing_*]

http://www.marstoday.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=23437

[JTN]

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMUDT70LYE_index_0.html
some of the images are being updated.

...including a 3-filter, true-colour version of the full disc image (and some others).

Also a release on magnetic field measurements from Philae's ROMAP.

[Stu]

Just got back from work, clicked on the link to That Picture...



Unbelievable, just unbelievable! Well worth the wait!

Looking forward to seeing the magical crescent images... anyone know when they're due for release?

[dilo]

This is one of the best pictures I have seen in the last months, I agree with Emily/nperv...
I made some elaboration in order to have darker sky and more red/detailed Mars (moderate and stronger correction, respectively):


PS: details on the solar panels remind me something I saw when I was a kid... there was a huge spaceship passing over my head and two droids escaping Imperial forces and landing on that desert planet (Opportunity and Spirit!?)

[mchan]

Where's that swear box? Are folks posting in so stunned they have forgotten to contribute? Clink, clink, clink!

[ugordan]

That true color final image looks a bit too red to me, here's my tweak to the green channel:

This looks to me to be more similar to a view through a telescope while the original image resembles those early MER panoramas using the IR instead of R channel.

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

This one resembles the old MGS compositions.

[dilo]

I agree, Gordan. The color is now very close to the one visible in the NUV-G-NIR published image.
And this is a less psychedelic version of the orange (red), green and near-UV colour filter composite image:

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[antipode]

Having the human artefact in the foreground has a powerful psychological effect. Think of the effect Sojourner had - and this is more immediate, more 'real' - that solar wing is connected to something we made and control - our sensory 'proxy' out there. Our mind's eye has the assistance it needs to put 'us' at that porthole. Savannah-evolved brain in an exotic location indeed!

For that reason if for no other these may be some of the most important images taken by an unmanned spacecraft.

P

[Stu]

How long until we see this..? In our lifetimes..?

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

How long until we see this..? In our lifetimes..?

Firstly - make the landing safe. 3 (failures) :1 (successes) doesn't look very well. Secondly - make an unmanned sample return mission. Thirdly - make smart landing possible. I think we won't see this soon...

[mcaplinger]

For that reason if for no other these may be some of the most important images taken by an unmanned spacecraft.

Sorry to be a curmudgeon, but the reaction to this image, which is rather bland and poorly exposed, surprises me a bit. No accounting for taste, I guess.

[mchan]

Sure, if one were actually there with a handheld camera, use of a flash to fill in the solar array would have made for a much nicer photo. But the result as is nevertheless is still great given the equipment at hand and the limitations on pointing. It is the psychological effect of seeming to be there that is the key here.

I hope ESA will take advantage of future opportunities for similar shots at the asteroid flybys and the comet arrival.