[X] My Assistant

[jasedm]

A little premature perhaps, but I was wondering if there were as yet any firm plans for disposing of/de-commissioning Rosetta at the end of the mission?

The Rosetta website FAQ section states in answers, that a decision on this would be made in late 2014, but I've been unable to turn up any information relating to it.

A six-month extension has been mooted and I presume this would involve some closer approaches to 67P towards the EOM, with subsequent very high resolution studies.

The propellant issue is, as ever the prime governing factor (aside from funding of course) especially in view of the existing leak in the reaction control system onboard the spacecraft.

It would be great to think that Rosetta could be landed on the comet as NEAR did at Eros, with similar images transmitted all the way down, or a short 'hover' a few tens of metres above a particularly active part of the surface long enough to directly sample jets, or image particles as they come away from the comet.

Should the mission be able to pin down Philae's location in the coming months, might there even be an opportunity to image the lander at a reasonable resolution?

Jase

[nogal]

Mark McCaughrean, Senior Scientific Adviser for Science and Robotic Exploration Consultant for ESA, gave a conference in Lisbon on January 29. Stressing these were ideas that are being talked about, he mentioned that towards the end of the mission a fly through the neck might be attempted "Star Wars" style, followed by a landing on the comet. But Rosetta would have to "land upside down", because of the communications' antenna position.

The conference was given in English, but there are some brief comments in Portuguese. The video can be found here Rosetta: on the trail of the comet - Mark McCaughrean, Lisbon, January 29, 2015. The comments mentioned above can be located at 1h30m14s and, on the Q&A period, at 1h40m30s, 1h45m22s, and 1h48m18s.

Fernando