| | |  | OSIRIS view of asteroid 21 Lutetia on 9 July from 2 mn km | |
Rosetta lines up for spectacular asteroid flyby
10 July 2010
Asteroid Lutetia is growing larger in Rosetta's view as the ESA spacecraft zooms in for a spectacular flyby at 18:10 CEST today. Lutetia is the largest asteroid ever visited by a spacecraft.
Rosetta is perfectly lined up to skim by at a distance of 3162 km, close enough to enable detailed scientific investigations of its surface and environment. The spacecraft is expected to pass Lutetia at a relative speed of 54 000 km/h, when both are some 454 million km from Earth.
As Lutetia is a major scientific target of Rosetta's mission, most of the orbiter and comet lander instruments will be on for flyby, studying the asteroid's surface, dust cloud, exosphere, magnetic field, mass and density.
Although most scientific observations will be performed in the next few hours, several instruments have been switched on for several days and will continue observing in the hours after flyby.
The OSIRIS (Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System) camera has already started acquiring images that show surface details not visible from ground telescopes.
| | | Artist's impression of Rosetta at asteroid 21 Lutetia 10 July 2010 |
Intense preparations for a deep-space encounter
Preparations for the Lutetia flyby have been underway for some months by scientists and engineers at ESA, the German Aerospace Center and two dozen institutes and universities in Europe and the USA.
In the past weeks, activities at the Agency, and especially within the mission's science and operations teams, have intensified.
"There are several special configurations for Rosetta, including a special asteroid flyby mode in which the spacecraft can operate autonomously and use its cameras to guide its attitude during the passage. It's been a challenge, but we are looking forward to an excellent flyby," said Andrea Accomazzo, Rosetta Spacecraft Operations Manager at ESOC, ESA's European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany.
Live webcast starts 18:00 CEST
The first images taken during closest approach are expected to arrive on Earth around 20:00 CEST today and, after processing, are planned for publication after 23:00 CEST.
Webcasts of the media event from ESA's European Space Operations Centre, will start at 18:00 CEST and 23:00 CEST.
Access webcast here: http://www.esa.int/rosetta
Follow updates on the mission via the Rosetta Blog.
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