Rosetta right on track for Earth swing-by

Space & Earth science / Space Exploration

This is an artist’s rendition of Rosetta’s closest approach to Earth during its second swing-by of our planet on 13 November this year. The image shows the fly-by configuration as seen from below. Credit: ESA

Preparations for Rosetta’s Earth swing-by scheduled for tonight, 21:57 CET, are well underway. The manoeuvre executed on 18 October 2007 has been accurate enough to not require any additional trajectory corrections today.

This means that the most critical operational procedures for the success of the swing-by are now over. However, the operations teams are constantly on the watch to make sure that nothing disturbs the spacecraft’s velocity and direction and that its stability is maintained throughout the observations.

The core observations will start only in the afternoon, but the instruments are already being prepared for the delicate procedures. The spacecraft has been pointed to certain areas in the sky for calibration and this will continue for about 24 hours. During the swing-by, Rosetta will first point to Earth and will observe the Earth-Moon system as a whole afterwards.

Source: European Space Agency

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