ESA Rosetta Philae Lander Attempts First-Ever Soft Touchdown on Comet

The European Space Agency Rosetta spacecraft in orbit around Comet 67P (Churyumov-Gerasimenko) is set to release Philae on November 12 at 08:35 UT to attempt the very first controlled landing on a comet. Intended to land at a site dubbed Agilkia, Philae will be released from a 22.5-km altitude and should make contact with the 4.1×4.5 km comet about 7 hours later at 1 meter per second. Two harpoons will anchor Philae to the surface. If needed, backup Site C will be used with release time scheduled at 13:04 and landing about 4 hours later. Rosetta should begin communications with Philae about 2 hours after separation. One-way signal travel time to Earth is ~28 minutes. Philae is expected to begin its first surface science experiments ~1 hour after touchdown for 64 hours (based on battery life) to study molecule and mineral composition, physical properties and magnetic / plasma environment of the nucleus. Further studies will continue as solar panels recharge its batteries. Philae is expected to lose functionality March 2015 as temperatures increase and Rosetta will study the comet as it moves closer to the Sun, closest approach August 2015. Pictured: Rosetta Mission Manager Fred Jansen (T) and Project Scientist Matt Taylor (B). (Image Credit: ESA, The Guardian / PR)

MONDAY

Nov 10 — ISS, LEO: Expedition 42 will work as three-member crew until Nov 23; transferring cargo from ATV-5 & Progress 57P, loading waste; taking photos of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer wake radiator to characterize potential surface discoloration.

Nov 10 — MAVEN, Mars Orbit: Studying Mars atmosphere at ~150 km to help determine how atmosphere / water were lost over time, five “deep-dip” campaigns down to ~124-km altitude are planned; data on recent comet Siding Spring flyby available.

Nov 10 — Juno, Jupiter Trajectory: Operating nominally, traveling at 48,171 kph in Quiet Cruise Phase until Jan 5, 2016, sending communication signals to Earth; expected to reach Jupiter July 5, 2016.

Nov 10 — Spaceflight Inc., Seattle WA: NewSpace company working with Japan Manned Space Systems Corp. (JAMSS) to integrate & deploy eight 3U CubeSats for U.S. commercial companies on JAXA Astro-H mission launching 2015-16.

Nov 10 — Moon Express Inc., KSC FL: Will work beside Project Morpheus & begin vehicle testing of MX-1 lander at KSC under Lunar Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown (CATALYST) initiative.

Nov 10 — Virgin Galactic, Mojave CA: Investigations continue into recent accident causing injury & loss of life, memorial fund set up for family of test pilot Mike Alsbury.

Nov 10 — Bradford Astronomical Society, Bradford, United Kingdom: Odyssey Dramatic Presentation: Britannia Sky – A British Space Odyssey.

Nov 10-11 — University of La Serena Dept of Physics, La Serena, Chile: Workshop: Galaxy Groups – Laboratories to Study Galaxy Evolution.

Nov 10-13 — University of Porto Center for Astrophysics, Porto, Portugal: Gaia-ESO Survey Second Science Meeting (GES 2014).

“The Next Giant Leap” Conference on Hawai`i Island

Moon is the central priority of the State of Hawaii conference titled The Next Giant Leap: Leveraging Lunar Assets for Sustainable Pathways to Space, being held November 9-13 at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott in collaboration with Aerospace Hawai`i, PISCES, Space Portal, SSERVI, AIAA, SFF and others. The assets of the Moon in focus for organizers include near-Earth location, diverse regolith, orbital periodicity and gravitational field. The International Lunar Observatory Association ILO-1, NASA Resource Prospector, China Chang’e 4(-5), India Chandrayaan 2, and Japan SLIM missions are all advancing 2016-2018 lunar landing timelines towards the South Pole of the Moon — which, now in 2014 has become the almost-universal choice of the world’s Space / Lunar Agencies, Institutions and programs as the next and most-promising destination on the Moon for human scientific, technical and economic exploration and development. High mountains of “eternal light” for power, thermal, observation and communication advantages; Aitken Basin deep crater water-ice, geology and mining resources, Southern / Galaxy skies; and South Pole Earth / South Pole Moon analog and experience are extraordinary assets for human advancement on the “8th Continent.” (Image Credit: State of Hawaii, P. Spudis, NASA)

Nov 10-14 — Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, India: Conference: Coupling and Dynamics of the Solar Atmosphere.

Nov 10 — Moon: 5.9° S of M35, 03:00.

Nov 10 — Asteroid 2014 UQ114: Near-Earth flyby (0.079 AU).

Continued from…

Oct 20 – Dec 12 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Space Frontier Foundation, Online: Commercial Space Executive Leadership Training Course; with instructors Dan Rasky and Bruce Pittman.

Nov 9-12 — Huntsville Alabama L5 Society (HAL5), Baen Books, Initiative for Interstellar Studies, et al, Oak Ridge TN: 3rd Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop: Long-Term Thinking–Present-Day Action; featuring Les Johnson, Sara Seagar, James Benford, Michael Minovitch, more.

Nov 9-13 — State of Hawai`i, Hawaii Office of Aerospace Development, Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES), University of Hawaii, Waikoloa HI: The Next Giant Leap: Leveraging Lunar Assets for Sustainable Pathways to Space; at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa.

Nov 9-14 — American Astronomical Society, Tucson AZ: 46th Annual Meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society; at JW Marriott Starr Pass Hotel.

TUESDAY

Nov 11 — Silicon Valley Space Center, AIAA San Francisco Section, Santa Clara CA: TechTalks: Small Spacecraft Technologies; presented by Pete Klupar, 18:30 – 20:30 PST.

Nov 11-14 — ESA, Noordwijk, The Netherlands: Workshop: Star Formation Across Space and Time.