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The in-flight commissioning activities of the European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft started a couple of days after launch, they included the individual activation of all instruments on board the Rosetta orbiter and the Philae lander. This first check-out worked flawlessly and showed that the spacecraft and all instruments are functioning well and in excellent shape.
The commissioning tests paved the way for Rosetta's first scientific activity, the observation of Comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR), which is currently travelling for the first and only time through the inner Solar System. This unique opportunity offered Rosetta an excellent opportunity to make its first scientific observations. On 30 April, the OSIRIS camera system took images of the comet. Later that day three more instruments ALICE, MIRO and VIRTIS, were activated in parallel to take measurements of the comet.
Although the parallel activation of the instruments was not planned until later in the year, the Rosetta team felt confident that this could be done without any risk because of the satisfactory progress of the overall testing.
The first data from the remote-sensing observations confirm the excellent performance of the instruments. The four instruments took images and spectra of Comet LINEAR to study its coma and tail in different wavelengths, from ultraviolet to microwave. Rosetta successfully measured the presence of water molecules in the tenuous atmosphere around the comet. Detailed analysis of the data will require the complete calibration of the instruments, which will take place in the coming months.
The OSIRIS camera produced high-resolution images of Comet LINEAR from a distance of about 95 million kilometres. The image below was obtained by OSIRIS in blue light, it shows a pronounced nucleus and a section of the tenuous tail extending over 2 million kilometres.
Image:ESA.
The successful observation of Comet LINEAR was a first positive test of a ten year journey to Rosetta's ultimate target, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta will be the first mission to undertake a long-term exploration of a comet at close quarters whilst accompanying it on its way towards the Sun. The unprecedented study conducted by the Rosetta orbiter and its Philae lander will help scientists better understand how the Solar System formed around 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists also hope that the mission will provide them with clues of how comets may have contributed to the beginning of life on Earth.
Rosetta’s first phase of commissioning is set to be completed in the first week of June. The spacecraft will then go into a quiet 'cruise mode' until September, when the second phase of commissioning is scheduled to start. These activities will last until December.
More info: Rosetta at ESA
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