[meteorite-list] As Seen by Rosetta: Comet Surface Variations

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-280

As Seen by Rosetta: Comet Surface Variations
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
August 15, 2014

A new image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko shows the diversity of 
surface structures on the comet's nucleus. It was taken by the Rosetta 
spacecraft's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on August 7, 2014. At the time, 
the spacecraft was 65 miles (104 kilometers) away from the 2.5-mile-wide 
(4-kilometer) nucleus.

In the image, the comet's head (in the top half of the image) exhibits 
parallel linear features that resemble cliffs, and its neck displays scattered 
boulders on a relatively smooth, slumping surface. In comparison, the 
comet's body (lower half of the image) seems to exhibit a multi-variable 
terrain with peaks and valleys, and both smooth and rough topographic 
features.

A 3-D version of the image depicting the comet is available at:

http://go.nasa.gov/1t3K3FU

Launched in March 2004, Rosetta was reactivated in January 2014 after 
a record 957 days in hibernation. Composed of an orbiter and lander, Rosetta's 
objectives are to study comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko up close in unprecedented 
detail, prepare for landing a probe on the comet's nucleus in November, 
and track its changes as it sweeps past the sun.

Comets are time capsules containing primitive material left over from 
the epoch when the sun and its planets formed. Rosetta's lander will obtain 
the first images taken from a comet's surface and will provide the first 
analysis of a comet's composition by drilling into the surface. Rosetta 
also will be the first spacecraft to witness at close proximity how a 
comet changes as it is subjected to the increasing intensity of the sun's 
radiation. Observations will help scientists learn more about the origin 
and evolution of our solar system, and the role comets may have played 
in seeding Earth with water.

The scientific imaging system, OSIRIS, was built by a consortium led by 
the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (Germany) in collaboration 
with Center of Studies and Activities for Space, University of Padua (Italy), 
the Astrophysical Laboratory of Marseille (France), the Institute of Astrophysics 
of Andalusia, CSIC (Spain), the Scientific Support Office of the European 
Space Agency (Netherlands), the National Institute for Aerospace Technology 
(Spain), the Technical University of Madrid (Spain), the Department of 
Physics and Astronomy of Uppsala University (Sweden) and the Institute 
of Computer and Network Engineering of the TU Braunschweig (Germany). 
OSIRIS was financially supported by the national funding agencies of Germany 
(DLR), France (CNES), Italy (ASI), Spain, and Sweden and the ESA Technical 
Directorate.

Rosetta is an ESA mission with contributions from its member states and 
NASA. Rosetta's Philae lander is provided by a consortium led by the German 
Aerospace Center, Cologne; Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, 
Gottingen; French National Space Agency, Paris; and the Italian Space 
Agency, Rome. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, 
Pasadena, manages the U.S. participation in the Rosetta mission for NASA's 
Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information on the U.S. instruments aboard Rosetta, visit:

http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov

More information about Rosetta is available at:

http://www.esa.int/rosetta

DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
818-393-9011
agle at jpl.nasa.gov

J.D. Harrington
NASA Headquarters
202-358-5241
j.d.harrington at nasa.gov

Markus Bauer
European Space Agency, Noordwijk, Netherlands
011-31-71-565-6799
markus.bauer at esa.int

2014-280