The Rosetta mission orbiter Science overview the comet phase

摘要

The International Rosetta Mission was launched in 2004 and consists of theorbiter spacecraft Rosetta and the lander Philae. The aim of the mission is tomap the comet 67P Churyumov Gerasimenko by remote sensing, to examine itsenvironment insitu and its evolution in the inner solar system.Rosetta was thefirst spacecraft to rendezvous and orbit a comet, accompanying it as it passesthrough the inner solar system, and to deploy a lander, Philae and perform insitu science on the comet surface. The primary goals of the mission were to:characterize the comets nucleus; examine the chemical, mineralogical andisotopic composition of volatiles and refractories; examine the physicalproperties and interrelation of volatiles and refractories in a cometarynucleus; study the development of cometary activity and the processes in thesurface layer of the nucleus and in the coma; detail the origin of comets, therelationship between cometary and interstellar material and the implicationsfor the origin of the solar system; characterize asteroids, 2867 Steins and 21Lutetia. This paper presents a summary of mission operations and science,focusing on the Rosetta orbiter component of the mission during its cometphase, from early 2014 up to September 2016.