The landing(s) of Philae and inferences about comet surface mechanical properties
2015 | journal article. A publication with affiliation to the University of Göttingen.
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The landing(s) of Philae and inferences about comet surface mechanical properties
Biele, J.; Ulamec, S.; Maibaum, M.; Roll, R.; Witte, L.; Jurado, E. & Munoz, P. et al. (2015)
Science, 349(6247) art. aaa9816. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa9816
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Details
- Authors
- Biele, Jens; Ulamec, Stephan; Maibaum, Michael; Roll, Reinhard; Witte, Lars; Jurado, Eric; Munoz, Pablo; Arnold, Walter; Auster, Hans-Ulrich; Casas, Carlos; Faber, Claudia; Fantinati, Cinzia; Finke, Felix; Fischer, Hans-Herbert; Geurts, Koen; Guettler, Carsten; Heinisch, Philip; Herique, Alain; Hviid, Stubbe; Kargl, Guenter; Knapmeyer, Martin; Knollenberg, Joerg; Kofman, Wlodek; Koemle, Norbert; Kuehrt, Ekkehard; Lommatsch, Valentina; Mottola, Stefano; de Santayana, Ramon Pardo; Remetean, Emile; Scholten, Frank; Seidensticker, Klaus Juergen; Sierks, Holger; Spohn, Tilman
- Abstract
- The Philae lander, part of the Rosetta mission to investigate comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, was delivered to the cometary surface in November 2014. Here we report the precise circumstances of the multiple landings of Philae, including the bouncing trajectory and rebound parameters, based on engineering data in conjunction with operational instrument data. These data also provide information on the mechanical properties (strength and layering) of the comet surface. The first touchdown site, Agilkia, appears to have a granular soft surface (with a compressive strength of 1 kilopascal) at least similar to 20 cm thick, possibly on top of a more rigid layer. The final landing site, Abydos, has a hard surface.
- Issue Date
- 2015
- Status
- published
- Publisher
- Amer Assoc Advancement Science
- Journal
- Science
- ISSN
- 1095-9203; 0036-8075
