Philae lander
Encyclopedia
Philae is the lander
that accompanies the Rosetta
spacecraft
. It is designed to land on Comet
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
shortly after arrival. The lander is named after Philae island
in the Nile
, where an obelisk was found that was used along with the Rosetta Stone
to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphic.
. It also will deploy harpoon
s to anchor itself to the surface, and the legs are designed to dampen the initial impact to avoid bouncing. Communications with Earth
will use the orbiter spacecraft as a relay station to reduce the electrical power needed. The mission duration on the surface is planned to be at least one week
, but an extended mission lasting month
s is possible.
The main structure of the lander is made from carbon fiber, shaped into a plate maintaining mechanical stability, a platform for the science instruments, and a hexagonal “sandwich” to connect all the parts. The total weight is about 100 kg. Its “hood” is covered with solar cell
s for power generation.
It was originally planned to rendezvous with the comet
46P/Wirtanen
. A failure of the Ariane 5
launch vehicle necessitated a change in target to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
. The larger mass and the resulting increased impact velocity made modification of the landing gear necessary. Besides the changes made to launch time and target, the mission profile remained unchanged.
Lander (spacecraft)
A lander is a spacecraft which descends toward and comes to rest on the surface of an astronomical body. For bodies with atmospheres, the landing is called atmospheric reentry and the lander descends as a re-entry vehicle...
that accompanies the Rosetta
Rosetta (spacecraft)
Rosetta is a robotic spacecraft of the European Space Agency on a mission to study the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta consists of two main elements: the Rosetta space probe and the Philae lander. The spacecraft was launched on 2 March 2004 on an Ariane 5 rocket and will reach the comet by...
spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
. It is designed to land on Comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko, officially designated 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, is a comet with a current orbital period of 6.6 years. It is the destination of the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft mission, launched on March 2, 2004....
shortly after arrival. The lander is named after Philae island
Philae
Philae is an island in the Nile River and the previous site of an Ancient Egyptian temple complex in southern Egypt...
in the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
, where an obelisk was found that was used along with the Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek...
to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphic.
Design
The lander is designed to touch down on the comet’s surface after detaching itself from the main spacecraft body and “falling” towards the comet along a ballistic trajectoryTrajectory of a projectile
In physics, the ballistic trajectory of a projectile is the path that a thrown or launched projectile will take under the action of gravity, neglecting all other forces, such as friction from air resistance, without propulsion....
. It also will deploy harpoon
Harpoon
A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument used in fishing to catch fish or large marine mammals such as whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the butt of the projectile to catch the animal...
s to anchor itself to the surface, and the legs are designed to dampen the initial impact to avoid bouncing. Communications with Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
will use the orbiter spacecraft as a relay station to reduce the electrical power needed. The mission duration on the surface is planned to be at least one week
Week
A week is a time unit equal to seven days.The English word week continues an Old English wice, ultimately from a Common Germanic , from a root "turn, move, change"...
, but an extended mission lasting month
Month
A month is a unit of time, used with calendars, which was first used and invented in Mesopotamia, as a natural period related to the motion of the Moon; month and Moon are cognates. The traditional concept arose with the cycle of moon phases; such months are synodic months and last approximately...
s is possible.
The main structure of the lander is made from carbon fiber, shaped into a plate maintaining mechanical stability, a platform for the science instruments, and a hexagonal “sandwich” to connect all the parts. The total weight is about 100 kg. Its “hood” is covered with solar cell
Solar cell
A solar cell is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect....
s for power generation.
It was originally planned to rendezvous with the comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
46P/Wirtanen
46P/Wirtanen
46P/Wirtanen is a small short-periodic comet with a current orbital period of 5.4 years. It was the original target for close investigation by the Rosetta spacecraft, planned by the European Space Agency. It belongs to the Jupiter family of comets, all of which have aphelia between 5 and 6 AU. Its...
. A failure of the Ariane 5
Ariane 5
Ariane 5 is, as a part of Ariane rocket family, an expendable launch system used to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit or low Earth orbit . Ariane 5 rockets are manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales...
launch vehicle necessitated a change in target to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko, officially designated 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, is a comet with a current orbital period of 6.6 years. It is the destination of the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft mission, launched on March 2, 2004....
. The larger mass and the resulting increased impact velocity made modification of the landing gear necessary. Besides the changes made to launch time and target, the mission profile remained unchanged.
Instruments
The science payload of the lander consists of 10 instruments with 26.7 kg making up nearly one third of the mass of the lander.- APXS (Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer) APXSAPXSAn Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer is a device that analyses the chemical element composition of a sample from the scattered alpha particles, emitted protons , and fluorescent X-rays after the sample is irradiated with alpha particles and X-rays from radioactive sources...
analyzes the chemical element composition of the surface below the lander. The instrument is an improved version of the APXS of the Mars PathfinderMars PathfinderMars Pathfinder was an American spacecraft that landed a base station with roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight wheeled robotic rover named Sojourner.Launched on December 4, 1996 by NASA aboard a Delta II booster a...
. - COSAC (The COmetary SAmpling and Composition) The combined gas chromatograph and time of flight mass spectrometryMass spectrometryMass spectrometry is an analytical technique that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of charged particles.It is used for determining masses of particles, for determining the elemental composition of a sample or molecule, and for elucidating the chemical structures of molecules, such as peptides and...
will perform analysis of soil samples and determine the content of volatile components. - Ptolemy
- ÇIVA (Comet Nucleus Infrared and Visible Analyzer)
- ROLIS (Rosetta Lander Imaging System)
- CONSERTCONSERTCONSERT is a scientific experiment on board the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission, launched in 2004, which will provide information about the deep interior of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko upon the probe's rendezvous with the comet in 2014.The CONSERT radar will perform a...
(COmet Nucleus Sounding Experiment by Radiowave Transmission). The Consert radarRadarRadar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
will perform the tomography of the nucleus by measuring electromagnetic wave propagation from Philae and the Rosetta probe throughout the comet nucleus in order to determine its internal structures and to deduce information on its composition. - MUPUS (MUlti-PUrpose Sensors for Surface and Sub-Surface Science)
- ROMAP (Rosetta Lander Magnetometer and Plasma Monitor)
- SESAME (Surface Electric Sounding and Acoustic Monitoring Experiment)
- SD2 (The sampling, drilling and distribution subsystem)
Mission
Philae's mission is to land successfully on the surface of a comet, and transmit data from the surface about the comet's composition. Unlike the Deep Impact probe, it is not an impactor. A check of the instruments indicated no major problems in 2006. Some of the instruments and the lander were used for the first time as autonomous systems during the Mars flyby on February 25, 2007. ÇIVA, the camera system, returned some images while the Rosetta instruments were powered down; ROMAP took measurements of the Martian magnetosphere. Most of the other instruments need contact with the surface for analysis and stayed offline during the flyby.External links
- Rosetta website
- Rosetta Lander an article by Andrew J Ball, 1997.
- Philae site at gwdg.de
- Experiments German page with all onboard experiments.