The International Rosetta Mission - First Historical Rendezvous and Land

Kurzfassung

The Rosetta international mission is a cornerstone of the ESA scientific programme which, for the first time in history of spaceflight, achieved a rendezvous with a comet nucleus and delivered a lander module, Philae, onto its surface. The mission realization required almost 30 years since its initial conception. The interplanetary cruise took more than 10 years. The target, comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko, was reached in August 2014. The lecture will emphasize on the operational challenges of the long mission, of flying Rosetta at short distances from an active comet nucleus of 2 km radius, and of the delivery and operations the Philae lander. Latest status of both Lander and Orbiter will be presented.