Rosetta Prepares for Asteroid Encounter: related news

Rosetta Prepares for Asteroid Encounter

Spacecraft controllers have just awoken Rosetta from hibernation to prepare for its encounter with asteroid (2867) Steins on September 5. ESA’s comet chaser will study the relatively rare asteroid as it flies by on its way to comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

European spacecraft set to swing by asteroid

An artist's impression of Steins asteroid, which the ESA's Rosetta probe will encounter Friday at a distance of 800 kilometres. The asteroid is about five kilometres across.An artist's impression of Steins asteroid, which the ESA's Rosetta probe will encounter Friday at a distance of 800 kilometres. The asteroid is about five kilometres across.

Rosetta: rendezvous with an asteroid - Video

Asteroid Steins belongs to the rare, largely unknown intermediate E-class, very bright and probably with a much-weathered surface. Steins' orbit was only known from ground observations, so Rosetta is conducting Europe's first-ever optical tracking campaign, providing highly accurate position data to Flight Dynamics specialists who are planning a series of trajectory corrections for an accurate fly-by. For over a year, Rosetta scientists and leading asteroid experts have been planning this encounter, and all the probe's science instruments will be active at some point in the fly-by. Reception of the first images is expected at the European Space Operations Centre some two hours after the encounter on 5 September 2008.

Rosetta's trajectory towards asteroid Steins - Image

This diagram shows the approach of Rosetta’s spacecraft to asteroid (2867) Steins on 5 September 2008. Steins is located in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The encounter took place during Rosetta’s first incursion into the main asteroid belt while on its way to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Rosetta awakes from hibernation for asteroid encounter

Spacecraft controllers have just awoken Rosetta from hibernation to prepare for its encounter with asteroid (2867) Steins on 5 September. ESA's comet chaser will study the relatively rare asteroid as it flies by on its way to comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

ESA spacecraft set for flyby of Steins asteroid

An European Space Agency image taken from the ESA's webside on Friday, Sept 5. 2008 shows an artist's impression of ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft flying by asteroid (2867) Steins on Sept. 5, 2008 at 20:58 CEST (1858 GMT), with a closest approach distance of 800 kilometers. Steins is Rosetta’s first nominal scientific target. The spacecraft encountered the asteroid in the course of its first incursion into the main asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, while on its way to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which is scheduled for 2014. An European Space Agency image taken from the ESA's webside on Friday, Sept 5. 2008 shows an artist's impression of ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft flying by asteroid (2867) Steins on Sept. 5, 2008 at 20:58 CEST (1858 GMT), with a closest approach distance of 800 kilometers.

Rosetta awakes from hibernation for asteroid

Spacecraft controllers have just awoken Rosetta from hibernation to prepare for its encounter with asteroid (2867) Steins on 5 September. ESA's comet chaser will study the relatively rare asteroid as it flies by on its way to comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

ESA?s Rosetta starts tracking asteroid Steins

ESA’s Rosetta starts tracking asteroid SteinsParis, August 5 : ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) Rosetta spacecraft has started using its cameras to visually track asteroid Steins and eventually determine its orbit with more accuracy.

Close Encounter: ESA's Rosetta set for Friday flyby of Steins asteroid

an asteroid by their deep-space explorer, Rosetta, on a mission to solve the mystery of the birth of the solar system.

Rosetta starts tracking asteroid Steins

Heading toward its first target-asteroid, (2867) Steins, ESA's Rosetta spacecraft has started using its cameras to visually track the asteroid and eventually determine its orbit with more accuracy.

Rosetta spacecraft meets asteroid Steins

ESA PR 35-2008. ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft will make a historic encounter with asteroid (2867) Steins on 5 September 2008. The doors of ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, will be open to the media as of 18:00 on 5 September to follow the fly-by events.

Rosetta Begins Tracking Asteroid Steins for Flyby

Since waking up in early July from a brief hibernation, the Rosetta space probe has passed yet another milestone on the long journey to its rendezvous with the comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014: it has begun tracking the asteroid (2867) Steins. The spacecraft will perform a close flyby of the asteroid on September 5th, 2008, and will spend the next month taking images and science data.

Perfect sight: Rosetta cameras track asteroid target

On 14 August, Rosetta conducted a successful trajectory correction manoeuvre using data obtained from the Agency's first-ever optical tracking of an asteroid target, (2867) Steins. Images from the spacecraft's cameras were used to calculate the asteroid's location and optimise its trajectory for fly-by next month.

Gravity Tractor Could Deflect Asteroids

Hugh Pickens writes "A new study at the Jet Propulsion Labs shows that weak gravitational pull of a "gravity tractor" could deflect an Earth-threatening asteroid if it was deployed when the asteroid was at least one orbit away from potential impact with Earth. First a spacecraft would be crashed directly into the asteroid, similar to the Deep Impact mission that impacted a comet in 2005. This would provide a big change of direction, but in a less controllable fashion that could push the path of the asteroid into a dangerous keyhole. But then a second spacecraft, the gravity tractor, would come into play, hovering about 150 meters away from the asteroid, to exert a gentle gravitational force, changing the asteroid's velocity by only 0.22 microns per second each day.

Rosetta awakes from hibernation for asteroid encounter

The long trekDebris of the Solar System: AsteroidsLife and survival in deep spaceLong-distance communicationThe Rosetta ground segment

Binary Asteroid Glides Past Earth

A rare event has given astronomers a great view of a binary asteroid system. Tonight, asteroid 2008 BT18 passed 1.4 million miles from Earth, shining like a 13th magnitude star. Before July 7th, astronomers believed 2008 BT18 was "just another" near-Earth asteroid, but then the Arecibo radio telescope obtained a "delay-Doppler" image of the asteroid and found it in fact had a binary partner. Although binaries are fairly common in the Solar System, this was a rare opportunity for a ground-based telescope to capture such a clear view…

Spacecraft Woken for Asteroid EncounterVolcanoes on Mercury Solve 30-year MysteryStrange Asteroid Shapes ExplainedEarth's Cries Recorded in SpaceVoyager Spacecraft Reveals Solar System EdgeScientists Eager for Hubble's FaceliftHuge Tunguska Explosion

Rosetta - the comet chaser. An artist's depiction of Rosetta's arrival at its comet destination. Credit: ESA

ESA's Rosetta starts tracking asteroid Steins

ESA's (European Space Agency's) Rosetta spacecraft has started using its cameras to visually track asteroid Steins and eventually determine its orbit with more accuracy.

Billion-dollar European probe set for asteroid encounter

PARIS -- Far from Earth, a robot spacecraft has been prodded from deep slumber to make a rare encounter with an asteroid, the intriguing orbital debris that could offer clues into the making of the Solar System.

Billion-dollar European probe set for asteroid encounter

PARIS (AFP) - Far from Earth, a robot spacecraft has been prodded from deep slumber to make a rare encounter with an asteroid, the intriguing orbital debris that could offer clues into the making of the Solar System.

Billion-dollar European probe set for asteroid encounter

PARIS (AFP) - Far from Earth, a robot spacecraft has been prodded from deep slumber to make a rare encounter with an asteroid, the intriguing orbital debris that could offer clues into the making of the Solar System.

Rosetta Powers Up for Encounter with Mysterious Asteroid

HomeSubmit a program for being reviewedAdvertise on our websiteGet help on surfing our websitesSend us your feedbackGet information about our XML/RSS backend and how to use itBrowse the news archiveVisit our discussion forumVizitati forumul in limba romana

Rosetta awakes from hibernation for asteroid encounter

Memorize the username

Close Encounter: ESA's deep-space explorer Rosetta set for Friday flyby of Steins asteroid

California | Local National World Business Sports Campaign '08 Conventions Science Environment Opinion

Perfect sight: Rosetta cameras track asteroid target

Asteroid Steins is the tiny white dot in the centre of the two concentric circles as seen by Rosettas Navigation Camera A in the morning of 4 August when the spacecraft was approximately 24 mn kms from Steins this was only the first in a series of st ...

Search took 0.04 seconds.