COSAC prepares for in situ analysis of cometary matter from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
- Paper number
IAC-14,A3,4,4,x22427
- Author
Dr. Pascale Ehrenfreund, Space Policy Institute, George Washington University, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Fred Goesmann, Max-Planck Institut, Germany
- Coauthor
Prof. François Raulin, Université de Paris XII et Paris VII, France
- Coauthor
Dr. Jan Hendrik Bredehoeft, Germany
- Coauthor
Dr. Michel Cabane, Université Versailles St Quentin, France
- Coauthor
Dr. Alexandra McDermott, University of Houston Clear Lake, United States
- Coauthor
Prof. Susan McKenna-Lawlor, Space Technology (Ireland) Ltd., Ireland
- Coauthor
Dr. Uwe Meierhenrich, Universite Nice, France
- Coauthor
Dr. Guillermo Munoz Caro, Centro de Astrobiologica, Spain
- Coauthor
Dr. Cyril Szopa, Université Versailles St Quentin, France
- Coauthor
Dr. Robert Sternberg, Universités Paris Est Créteil, France
- Coauthor
Dr. Reinhard Roll, Max Planck Institute, Germany
- Coauthor
Prof.Dr. Wolram Thieman, University of Bremen, Germany
- Coauthor
Dr. Stephan Ulamec, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Germany
- Year
2014
- Abstract
The Comet Rendezvous mission Rosetta is set for a rendezvous with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in summer 2014 after a 10-year journey. The mission goal is to study the origin of comets, the relationship between cometary and interstellar material and its implications for the origin of the solar system. In November 2014 the lander Philae will be deployed onto the comet nucleus and will study cometary nucleus material in situ for the first time, examining its composition and structure with a set of 10 science instruments. Onboard Philae is the Cometary Sampling and Composition experiment (COSAC) that will perform molecular and chiral analysis and will measure volatile organic and inorganic compounds in the nucleus material. Data from the COSAC instrument are expected to provide important insights into the early history of our solar system and contribute to the inventory of small bodies that have seeded the early Earth through impact. We report on the calibration of the COSAC instrument, laboratory measurements on cometary analog material as well as the preparation for COSAC operations on the comet nucleus.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-14,A3,4,4,x22427.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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