[meteorite-list] Rosetta Bound for Outer Solar System After Final Earth Swingby

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMZC04VU1G_index_0.html

Rosetta bound for outer Solar System after final Earth swingby
European Space Agency 
13 November 2009

This morning, mission controllers confirmed that ESA's comet chaser
Rosetta had swung by Earth at 8:45 CET as planned, skimming past our
planet to pick up a gravitational boost for an epic journey to
rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014.
 
Rosetta passed over the ocean, just South of the Indonesian island of
Java, at exactly 08:45:40 CET, at a speed of 13.34 km/s with respect to
Earth at an altitude of 2481 km. The swingby was pre-planned and fully
automated, and the spacecraft was in direct communication with Earth at
the time, via the ESA New Norcia Station.  
 
The successful swingby was confirmed at 09:05 CET when mission
controllers re-established contact with Rosetta via ESA's Maspalomas
station in Spain. Although a detailed analyses is in progress,
spacecraft operators have confirmed that the swingby provided a boost of
3.6 km/s.

Europe's comet chaser has now flown a little over 4500 million km of its
7100 million km journey to its destination comet
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This was Rosetta's fourth planetary swingby
and the third and final swingby of Earth.
 
[Image]
Image of Earth beamed back by Rosetta last night
	

Science close to Earth
 
Some of Rosetta's instruments have been on since early November,
performing imaging, magnetospheric, and atmospheric observations, as
well as looking for water on the Moon. The first round of images and
data recorded just before and during the swingby will be downloaded
later today.

Rosetta is now departing Earth to meet asteroid (21) Lutetia in July
2010. It has gained sufficient orbital energy to achieve its final goal:
a rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014. The
spacecraft is scheduled to enter deep-space hibernation by mid 2011 for
the coldest leg of her journey to receive a wake up call only in spring
2014.
 
 
For additional details on today's swingby access the Rosetta Blog
http://www.esa.int/blog
 
 
For more information:
 
Andrea Accomazzo, ESA Rosetta Spacecraft Operations Manager
Email: Andrea.Accomazzo @ esa.int

Gerhard Schwehm, ESA Rosetta Mission Manager
Email: Gerhard.Schwehm @ esa.int

Rita Schulz, ESA Rosetta Project Scientist
Email: Rita.Schulz @ esa.int