The ROLIS imaging experiment on the Rosetta lander

Abstract

The ROLIS experiment is part of the payload on the Rosetta International Lander. The instrument consists of a highly integrated and lightweight CCD imager with a dual capacity. Firstly during the descent phase of the lander, just before touchdown, the imager will acquire a sequence of panchromatic pictures of the landing site. These images, which will have a spatial resolution of the order of a few millimeters, will gove context to the measurements performed in-situ by the lander payload. Secondly, after landing, the camera will be focused to a close-up disctance of 30 cm, from which it wil be possible to image regions below the lander with a spatial resolution of a few tenths of a millimeter. Furthermore, an autonomous, trichroic ilumination system will enable color images to be acquired. Coupled with the rotation capabilities provided by the main compartment of the lander, ROLIS will be able to acquire color images of the areas from which samples will be collected and analyzed by the other Lander instruments.