[meteorite-list] Rosetta Science Working Team Dedication to Deceased Colleagues

[Ron Baalke]

http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/09/28/rosetta-science-working-team-dedication-to-deceased-colleagues/

Rosetta Science Working Team dedication to deceased colleagues
Guest blog post by Matt Taylor, Rosetta Project Scientist.
September 28, 2015

At the most recent Rosetta Science Working Team meeting, held in Gottingen 
Germany in September 2015, a number of new science investigations were 
discussed, along with updates on on-going studies of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 
and its environment.

This growing body of science and discovery has only been made possible 
through the dedication of hundreds of scientists and engineers across 
the globe, who have worked or still work on the mission.

For a project that has been going for almost 30 years, it is also regrettably 
inevitable that a few members of this large team have been outlived by 
the mission, including some who unfortunately did not live to appreciate 
the main comet phase.

As a token of deep gratitude and thanks, the Rosetta SWT has dedicated 
the upcoming special issue of scientific papers in Astronomy & Astrophysics 
to everyone who has worked on the mission, including those who continue 
to work on the mission, but especially those colleagues who have passed 
away.

As part of this recognition, the SWT has also dedicated two features on 
the comet to two esteemed colleagues who have passed away in recent years.

These features are the C. Alexander Gate, found on the smaller lobe, dedicated 
to Dr Claudia J. Alexander, the US Rosetta Project Scientist who passed 
away in July this year, and the A. Coradini Gate, located on the larger 
lobe, after Dr Angioletta Coradini, the former Principal Investigator 
of the VIRTIS instrument, who passed away in September 2011.

The two features were chosen for their prominence on Comet 67P/C-G, and 
for their very distinctive and striking gate-like appearances, considered 
to be highly appropriate monuments for our absent colleagues.

Matt also announced the dedication during the opening ceremony of the 
European Planetary Science Congress today.