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Rosetta instruments |
The Rosetta spacecraft has many instruments that it will use to measure various aspects of Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko during its visit. This diagram shows the two cameras that make up the OSIRIS imaging system: the Narrow-Angle Camera (NAC) and the Wide-Angle Camera (WAC). The two cameras are shown in gray in the diagram. The instruments on the Rosetta orbiter are described in detail in the table below. The instruments on the Rosetta lander are described on a separate page. |
| Instrument | Purpose | Principal investigator |
| ALICE - Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer | Analyzes gases in comet's coma and tail | Dr. Alan Stern, Southwest Research Institute, USA |
| CONSERT - Comet Nucleus Sounding Experiment by Radiowave Transmission | Radio sounding, nucleus tomography - uses radio waves to probe comet's interior | Prof. Wlodek Kofman, Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Ingenieurs, France |
| COSIMA - Cometary Secondary Ion Mass Analyser | Dust mass spectrometer - chemical analysis of dust grains | Dr. Jochen Kissel, Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Germany |
| GIADA - Grain Impact Analyser and Dust Accumulator | Dust velocity and impact measurement - number, masses, and velocities of dust grains coming from the comet | Prof. Luigi Colangeli, Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Italy |
| MIDAS - Micro-Imaging Dust Analysis System | Micro-imaging dust analysis - physical analysis (size, shape, etc.) of dust grains | Prof. Willi Riedler, Space Research Institute, Austria |
| MIRO - Microwave Instrument for the Rosetta Orbiter | Microwave spectrometer - measures major gases and sub-surface temperature of the comet | Dr. Samuel Gulkis, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA |
| OSIRIS - Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System | Wide-angle and narrow-angle cameras | Dr. Horst Uwe Keller, Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie, Germany |
| ROSINA - Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis | Neutral gas and ion mass spectrometer - chemical analysis of comet's atmosphere | Prof. Hans Balsiger, University of Bern, Switzerland |
| RPC - Rosetta Plasma Consortium | Plasma measurements - 5 sensors measure physical properties of the nucleus, the structure of the coma, and the comet's interaction with the solar wind | Dr. Rolf Boström, Swedish Inst. of Space Physics, Sweden
Dr. James Burch, Southwest Research Institute, USA Prof. Karl-Heinz Glassmeier, Technische Universität, Germany Prof. Rickard Lundin, Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Sweden Dr. Jean-Gabriel Trotignon, LPCE/CNRS, France |
| RSI - Radio Science Investigation | Spacecraft's radio signals are used to measure the mass & density of the nucleus and to define the comet's orbit. | Dr. Martin Pätzold, Universität Köln, Germany |
| VIRTIS - Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer | Maps the temperature on the surface of the nucleus & identifies gases | Dr. Angioletta Coradini, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale, Italy |
The Rosetta spacecraft has many instruments that it will use to measure Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko during its visit. This diagram shows the two cameras that make up the OSIRIS imaging system: the Narrow-Angle Camera (NAC) and the Wide-Angle Camera (WAC). The two cameras are shown in gray in the diagram. The NAC takes pictures of objects when they are far away. The WAC takes pictures of objects when the spacecraft is very near them. The instruments on the Rosetta orbiter are described in the table below. The instruments on the Rosetta lander are described on a separate page. |
| Instrument | Purpose |
| ALICE | Analyzes gases in comet's coma and tail |
| CONSERT | Uses radio waves to probe comet's interior |
| COSIMA | Chemical analysis of dust grains |
| GIADA | Dust velocity and impact measurement - number, masses, and velocities of dust grains coming from the comet |
| MIDAS | Micro-imaging dust analysis - physical analysis (size, shape, etc.) of dust grains |
| MIRO | Measures major gases and sub-surface temperature of the comet |
| OSIRIS | Wide-angle and narrow-angle cameras |
| ROSINA | Chemical analysis of comet's atmosphere |
| RPC | Plasma measurements - 5 sensors measure physical properties of the nucleus, the structure of the coma, and the comet's interaction with the solar wind |
| RSI | Spacecraft's radio signals are used to measure the mass & density of the nucleus and to define the comet's orbit |
| VIRTIS | Maps the temperature on the surface of the nucleus & identifies gases |
This picture shows two of the instruments on the Rosetta spacecraft. The instruments are colored gray in the picture. These instruments are two of the cameras on Rosetta. NAC is the Narrow-Angle Camera. It takes pictures of objects when they are far away. WAC is the Wide-Angle Camera. It takes pictures of objects when the spacecraft is very near them. Rosetta will use these instruments to study Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta has many other instruments. They are listed lower on this page. The instruments on the Rosetta lander are listed on another page. |
| Instruments | What they do |
| ALICE, COSIMA, ROSINA | Measure the kinds of chemicals the comet is made of |
| CONSERT | Uses radio waves to "see" what the inside of the comet is like |
| GIADA | Measures dust coming from comet |
| MIDAS, OSIRIS | Cameras - take pictures |
| MIRO, VIRTIS | Measure temperature |
| RPC, RSI | Measure the comet's size, mass, and density |
Last modified January 21, 2004 by Randy Russell.
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