Rosetta Comet Mission close proximity operations at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and landing Philae

Abstract

The first ever dedicated comet Lander is Philae, an element of ESA´s Rosetta mission to comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta was launched in 2004. After about 7 years of interplanetary cruise (including three Earth and one Mars swing-by as well as two asteroid flybys) the spacecraft went into a deep space hibernation in June 2011. When approaching the target comet in early 2014, Rosetta is re-activated. The cometary nucleus will be characterized remotely to prepare Lander delivery, currently foreseen for November 2014. Comet escort by the spacecraft will continue until end 2015, beyond the peak comet activity at perihelion. In contrast to small body flyby missions (e.g., the Giotto mission to Halley's comet in 1986), Rosetta will actually orbit or "quasi-orbit" the comet nucleus, being inside it's Hill sphere. We discuss spacecraft navigation issues , comet characterization, the landing site selection process and Lander delivery