Science result from SOHO plus SMART-1 and Rosetta updates
Mon Mar 14, 2005 at 20:03 UTC
Measurements by the SWAN instrument onboard SOHO, have shown that the heliosphere, the solar wind filled volume which prevents the solar system from getting embedded in the local (ambient) interstellar medium is not axi-symmetrical, but is distorted, very likely under the effect of the local galactic magnetic field. Read more.
Rosetta - report on Earth flyby
The reporting period covers the critical activities around the first Earth swing-by of the Rosetta mission. All activities were successfully carried out, including operations of the spacecraft and payload in proximity of the Earth and the first in-flight test of the Asteroid Flyby Mode using the Moon as a target. Read more.
SMART-1 - final lunar orbit & instrument lunar commissioning
On 27 February, as planned, SMART-1 entered its final lunar orbit. During the transfer trajectory the payload instruments had undergone a commissioning phase to enable observations of the Moon to take place. In order to maximise the results from lunar orbit it is, however, necessary to recalibrate the instruments. This consists of taking images and spectra of particularly well known targets and cross correlating observations between SIR, the IR spectrometer and AMIE, the camera. This procedure takes some time, as it is dependent on both the visibility of the target and the correct illumination conditions. Read more.
