A timeline of the most crucial activities related to separation, descent and landing on 11 and 12 November.
What does Philae do during descent? Credit: ESA/ATG medialab
It has been compiled with inputs from the Flight Control Team at ESOC and the Science Operations Team at ESAC and is accurate as of now. PLEASE remember: many of these times are subject to change and confirmation, given the extremely dynamic nature of this delicate and complex operation. We’ll do our best to update this as we receive firm information, but on 12 November the live webcasts from ESA TV and ESA’s social media accounts (Twitter!) will be the best ways to get the latest information.
Admittedly, this timeline is a little dense, but we thought it better to provide more detail for those who – like us! – are extreme Rosetta & Philae fans (and you know who you are!). We’ll publish a lighter version in the main ESA website later today and there’s also a high-level version in the press kit (PDF; page 63 or in SlideShare here). And for those who wish, here is the opposite: an even more detailed version as a PDF, or also in Slideshare.
Review the notes/legend underneath for acronyms (no space mission can succeed without them!). There’s also a diagramme illustrating the delivery orbits.
ROSETTA AND PHILAE OPERATIONS TIMELINE AROUND COMET LANDING 11-12 NOVEMBER 2014
All times are subject to change and should not be assumed confirmed. Actual times may vary considerably. Please follow ESA TV, the Rosetta website, the Rosetta blog and ESA social media for the latest updates. All are linked via https://rosetta.esa.int
One-way light time (OWLT): 00h:28m:20s
Earth distance: 511 million km
CET/UTC offset: 01h:00m:00s
Updated 8.11.2014 to correct 12/11 04:28UTC event and add 01:00UTC event
Updated 12.11.2014 to indicate new GO/NOGO time for Philae lander, now at 02:35 UTC / 03:35 CET
Date |
UTC
|
CET
|
Event |
| 11/11 | 01:48:49 | 02:48:49 | BOT ESA New Norcia (NNO) |
| 11/11 | 03:10:00 | 04:10:00 | BOT NASA DSN Canberra |
| 11/11 | 12:25:00 | 13:25:00 | EOT Canberra |
| 11/11 | 13:40:00 | 14:40:00 | BOT DSN Madrid |
| 11/11 | 13:58:05 | 14:58:05 | BOT ESA Malargüe (MLG) |
| 11/11 | 14:00:00 | 15:00:00 | Flight Dynamics Team at ESOC begin orbit determination procedure to accurately fix Rosetta’s precise trajectory |
| 11/11 | 14:30:17 | 15:30:17 | EOT ESA NNO |
| 11/11 | 18:33:20 | 19:33:20 | Lander switch-on. Includes switching on Electrical Support System, which controls orbiter communication interface with the lander |
| 11/11 | 19:05:20 | 20:05:20 | Lander batteries and compartment heating ADS Tank (Active Descent System – provides cold gas thrust upwards to avoid rebound upon landing) opening |
| 11/11 | 19:25:20 | 20:25:20 | Lander Primary Battery conditioning start; about 28 mins |
| 11/11 | 19:00:00 | 20:00:00 | EOT DSN Madrid |
| 11/11 | 19:30:00 | 20:30:00 | GO/NOGO1 – Last full orbit determination; ESOC Flight Dynamics confirms Rosetta trajectory is correct |
| 11/11 | 20:03:00 | 21:03:00 | Rosetta starts slew to pre-delivery manoeuvre attitude (expected loss of signal) |
| 11/11 | 20:20:00 | 21:20:00 | BOT DSN Goldstone |
| 11/11 | 20:43:00 | 21:43:00 | End of Rosetta slew |
| 11/11 | 20:52:20 | 21:52:20 | Start Lander flywheel operation – provides stability during descent |
| 11/11 | 23:25:00 | 00:25:00 | BOT DSN Goldstone |
| 11/11 | 23:40:00 | 00:40:00 | BOT DSN Canberra |
| 12/11 | 00:00:00 | 01:00:00 | EOT DSN Goldstone |
| 12/11 | 00:00:00 | 01:00:00 | GO/NOGO 2(a) – Confirm telecommands to control delivery sequence are ready GO/NOGO 2(b) – ESOC confirms Rosetta is ready |
| 12/11 | 01:00:00 | 02:00:00 | ESOC uploads commands to control spacecraft for Lander delivery operations |
| 12/11 | 01:03:20 | 02:03:20 | Lander generates final telemetry (TM) on-board prior to GO/NOGO for SEP decision |
| 12/11 | 01:35:00 | 02:35:00 | (EXPECTED AT 02:35 UTC / 03:35 CET) GO/NOGO 3 – Confirm Philae is ready for landing |
| 12/11 | 01:46:10 | 02:46:10 | BOT ESA New Norcia |
| 12/11 | 03:02:50 | 04:02:50 | EOT ESA Malargüe |
| 12/11 | 04:03:20 | 05:03:20 | Lander – start of Separation, Descent & Landing (SDL) activities Start switching Lander instruments ON; ROMAP first |
| 12/11 | 04:28:20 | 05:28:20 | Rosetta – Start executing on-board commands for delivery operations |
| 12/11 | 04:34:20 | 05:34:20 | Start heating Lander batteries to separation temperature |
| 12/11 | 06:03:20 | 07:03:20 | Rosetta – Earliest start pre-delivery manoeuvre (thruster burn) Burn will be followed by loss of signal due to subsequent slew for separation Manoeuvre expected to be about 0.46m/s & about 6 mins duration |
Date |
UTC
|
CET
|
Event |
| 12/11 | 06:35:00 | 07:35:00 | Earliest GO/NOGO 4 – final decision to go for landing |
| 12/11 | 07:03:20 | 08:03:20 | Rosetta – Latest start pre-delivery manoeuvre |
| 12/11 | 07:35:00 | 08:35:00 | Latest GO/NOGO 4 – final decision to go for landing |
| – | – | Following MVR, ESOC Flight Dynamics Team conducts rapid assessment of MVR performance to verify burn results | |
| 12/11 | 07:49:20 | 08:49:20 | Lander – Switch on MUPUS |
| 12/11 | 07:52:20 | 08:52:20 | Start MUPUS operation and switch-on CivaRolis ÇIVA and ROLIS are imaging systems; ÇIVA makes panoramic images, ROLIS looks down |
| 12/11 | 07:55:20 | 08:55:20 | Start CivaRolis operation and switch-on SESAME (dust sensor) |
| 12/11 | 08:04:20 | 09:04:20 | Start SESAME operation |
| 12/11 | 08:46:20 | 09:46:20 | Start MSS (Mechanical Support System), which executes the mechanical separation from the Orbiter |
| 12/11 | 08:46:20 | 09:46:20 | Separation Motors ON |
| 12/11 | 08:49:20 | 09:49:20 | Start CONSERT Orbiter operation |
| 12/11 | 08:50:20 | 09:50:20 | Start CONSERT Lander operation |
| 12/11 | 08:51:20 | 09:51:20 | Start MSS sequence – internal autosequence to prepare for landing |
| 12/11 | 08:53:20 | 09:53:20 | Lander now on internal battery power |
| 12/11 | – | – | Screws in Separation Motors start to rotate and impart deployment speed to push Lander away, retrograde .21 m/s |
| 12/11 | 09:03:20 | 10:03:20 | PHILAE SEPARATION (Forecast; 94-sec window) Separation confirmation received on ground via ESA’s NNO New Norcia station |
| 12/11 | 09:04:12 | 10:04:12 | Lander (ÇIVA) obtains first images of Orbiter (FAREWELL1) |
| 12/11 | 09:06:17 | 10:06:17 | Lander (ÇIVA) obtains seconds images of Orbiter (FAREWELL2) |
| 12/11 | 09:12:17 | 10:12:17 | Lander / Orbiter separation distance now ~100m Earliest autodeployment of landing gear and ROMAP boom antenna |
| 12/11 | 09:25:50 | 10:25:50 | Lander starts rotation of 14 degrees to stable landing orientation |
| 12/11 | 09:43:20 | 10:43:20 | Rosetta performs post-delivery manoeuvre Burn will be followed by loss of signal due to subsequent slew back to nominal pointing Manoeuvre magnitude to be determined on 12/11 |
| 12/11 | 09:47:17 | 10:47:17 | Lander completes all post-separation activities |
| 12/11 | 10:53:20 | 11:53:20 | Acquisition of signal (AOS) from Rosetta Expected AOS; link with Rosetta now re-established |
| 12/11 | 11:59:20 | 12:59:20 | Start of stored data downlink from Rosetta & Philae |
| 12/11 | 12:20:00 | 13:20:00 | EOT DSN Canberra |
| 12/11 | 13:15:00 | 14:15:00 | BOT DSN Madrid |
| 12/11 | 13:55:00 | 14:55:00 | BOT ESA MLG |
| 12/11 | 14:27:00 | 15:27:00 | EOT NNO |
| 12/11 | 14:58:57 | 15:58:57 | Lander – switch-on Anchor & CivaRolis |
Date |
UTC
|
CET
|
Event |
| 12/11 | 15:01:57 | 16:01:57 | Lander – start imaging landing site and switch on ADS (Active Descent System) |
| 12/11 | 15:07:02 | 16:07:02 | ROLIS begins imaging |
| 12/11 | 15:17:15 | 16:17:15 | On board Lander, systems conduct final pre-touch-down operations |
| 12/11 | 15:22:20 | 16:22:20 | Start of Lander touch-down window |
| 12/11 | 16:02:20 | 17:02:20 | EXPECTED LANDING and receipt of signal (Forecast; 40 min variability) |
| 12/11 | – | – | Upon landing – start post-touch-down operations including: * ADS thruster fires for ~15 sec to avoid rebound * Harpoons (X2) fire to secure Lander to surface * Flywheel off |
| 12/11 | 16:07:12 | 17:07:12 | ÇIVA-P panoramic imaging on Lander obtains first images of surface and transmits same (forecast; depends on landing time) |
| 12/11 | 16:07:14 | 17:07:14 | Separation, Descent & Landing (SDL) science observations continue: Ptolemy & COSAC begin science gathering; data collected during descent and initial surface observations will be uploaded |
| 12/11 | 16:39:39 | 17:39:39 | Lander completes SDL operations; upload of science data |
| 12/11 | 17:49:07 | 18:49:07 | Lander begins First Science Sequence (FSS) Block 1; runs about 7 hours |
| 12/11 | 19:00:00 | 20:00:00 | EOT DSN Madrid |
| 12/11 | 19:03:00 | 20:03:00 | End of Lander/Orbiter first communication window |
| 13/11 | 01:43:00 | 02:43:00 | BOT ESA NNO |
| 13/11 | 02:59:00 | 03:59:00 | EOT ESA MLG |
Keen for more details? Download the extended version of this timeline here.
Notes:
| BOT | Begin of track | |||
| EOT | End of track | |||
| NNO | ESA – ESTRACK 35m New Norcia tracking station, Australia | |||
| MLG | ESA – ESTRACK 35m Malargüe tracking station, Argentina | |||
| LDR | Philae Lander | |||
| ROS | Rosetta Orbiter | |||
| LCC | Lander Control Centre, DLR/Cologne | |||
| ESOC | Rosetta Control Centre, ESA/Darmstadt | |||
| ROLIS | Rosetta Lander Imaging System (ROLIS): CCD imager designed to return images of the landing site before and after Philae has landed | |||
| ADS | Active Descent System (ADS) – this system emits cold gas thrust at touchdown to avoid rebound. | |||
| BOT | Indicates when station is pointing & ready. Actual acquisition of signal may come only afterwards | |||
| DSS 25 | NASA – DSN 34m Goldstone tracking station, California, USA | |||
| DSS 45 | NASA – DSN 34m Canberra tracking station, Australia | |||
| DSS 55 | NASA – DSN 34m Madrid tracking station, Spain | |||
| DSS 54 | NASA – DSN 34m Madrid tracking station, Spain | |||
| MVR | Manoeuvre – a thruster burn to change direction and/or speed | |||
| MSS | (Mechanical Support System) is the lander side of Philae which executes the mechanical separation from the orbiter. | |||
| ESS | ESS (Electrical Support System) is the orbiter part of the lander. The ESS controls the orbiter communication interface with the lander. ESS itself operates as usual as power and data interface to the Orbiter. | |||
Link to Lander science instruments via https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Lander_Instruments
CIVA, CONSERT, COSAC, PTOLEMY, MUPUS, ROLIS, ROMAP, SD2, SESAME
Labelled diagram indicating Rosetta’s trajectory from the end of October until early December. Screenshot from video. Credit: ESA
Discussion: 55 comments
Oooooh so exciting! Thank you for posting this up. 🙂
Great timeline for a fascinating mission.
One query, by time “on Earth” do you mean Earth received time: the time a signal would be received on Earth allowing for one way light time?
Hi Steve: Yes! — Daniel
Re ADS switch on 11/11 at 20:05 I hope the cold gas thrust will be downwards, ‘cos if it’s upwards a rebound would be fairly certain . . .
You have it wrong. You’re thinking about an object with large mass/gravity to pull the lander to it. This is not the case. This isn’t a Moon/Mars landing. Think about trying to float in space, and travel at speed toward the space station. When you hit it. you will bounce off back into space. But if you have jets on your back that fire up (opposite of your travel direction) then it will push and hold you onto the surface of which you are attempting to land. If they fired down (at the surface) it would just blow you out into space.
You guys are doing fantastic work. Way to go – and good luck!
Would be great even with the time delay if there was a live stream of this on Twitch or some such.
So excited !!! Great !!! Keep my fingers crossed.
Any idea yet how deep the fine ‘dust’ is at Agilkia?
Can Philae land in deep dust? Could electrostatic charge coat Philae lenses with fine dust?
Great days!
Could you please explain this paradox?
11/11 20:03:00 21:03:00 Rosetta starts slew to pre-delivery manoeuvre attitude (expected loss of signal)
…
12/11 04:28:20 05:28:20 Rosetta – Earliest possible start of slew into manoeuvre (MVR) orientation
Hi Cosmo, Thanks! That was an artefact left over from a previous edit. The actual (correct) entry in the ESOC Formal Ops Timeline for this time slot is:
12/11/2014 04:00 12/11/2014 04:28 12/11/2014 05:28 Start plan 52
What this means is the s/c will begin executing the time-tagged command stack that will control the s/c for the rest of the delivery activities. So, I’ve updated the timeline to read:
“Rosetta – Start executing on-board commands for delivery operations”
I hope this is sufficiently clear – and thanks for catching this.
I also added an entry for 01:00UTC ground which is when the commands are uplinked.
— Daniel
Looking forward to hear the sound of the comet. Must i wait a year or will you present it A.S.A.P?
Thanks for the odd sound. A 20 to 25 second period time is strange and i think a magneto resistive modulation of some acoustic electric process, an interaction of comet, coma and solar wind?
Rockhound: Yeah, I remember this one. It’s where the, uh, the coyote sat his ass down in a slingshot then he strapped himself to an Acme rocket. Is that – is that what we’re doin’ here?
Harry Stamper: [under his breath] Rockhound.
Rockhound: No, no, really, because it didn’t work out too well for the coyote, Harry.
Harry Stamper: [talking over him] Hey, Rock. Knock it off.
Truman: Well, actually, we have a lot better rockets than the coyote.
Im sorry for the humorous comment from the movie “ARMAGEDDON ” but thats the first thing I though of when they launched this thing 10 years ago and with the confusing & seriousness of all the comments I thought it may lighten it up a bit !!
Coyote sometimes had his way. Best wishes.
Hello Rosetta-Team !
Alles gute, all the best, good luck, bonne chance…
and :
May the force be with you !
GO, philae !
Will ESA be broadcasting video on the Internet of the separation of Philae from Rosetta and its landing on Comet 67P? If so, could you post a link to the Website?
Here: https://www.esa.int/esatv/Television
Even if this fails miserably and little Philae bounces off Agilkia and smashes Rosetta into shards it is a wonderful and magical adventure and you have already achieved so very, very much. My thanks to everyone on all the teams from NASA and ESA and everyone else.
Great work, people.
A German holding his breath down here in Brasil … alles Gute und viel Glueck!
Épico!
With surface temperatures so low (and, presumably, the ice so hard), what is the probability of the harpooning action either causing damage to Philae or rebounding the little fella out into space? Is there any opportunity for Philae to give it a second attempt at that point?
Who was the first scientist to suggest this as a viable mission all those years ago? How long had Comet 67P been considered as a rendezvous candidate for a mission like this?
Good luck to all — I love following this adventure.
Last time I remember it was 70% success and 30% chance of a failure, but…. that really wasn’t any official information, just one ESA guy throwing random numbers when pushed to do so. 🙂
Someone is putting it in a ‘flipping’ fifty – fifty’ 😉
Because of the low gravity of the comet the lander feets will “grab” the surface the same moment it tuches down and the engine on top of the lander will ignite and push the lander toward the surface. The harpoones will be fired and dig deep into the surface (from its hardness dependent). Since they are attached to the bottom of the lander with wires that will retract when the harpoons are fixed and the lander is dampend the landers mass and pressure from the engine will keep it on the surface. The wires will then retract and carefully straiten out and hold the lander via the harpoons down. The harpoons are equipped with axellerometers and pressure gauges to measure desired data to calculate the surface hardness and depth of intrution lenght.
The project originated back in the 1970ties, and target was changed when Ariane 5 rocket could not perform correctly in 2003. Postponed lauch and target from comet Wirtanen to 67P/C-G (named after two Ukrainian “scientists”. See link: https://sci.esa.int/rosetta/2279-summary/ for more details.
In celebratory anticipation of the landing of the Philae spacecraft, I have prepared a series of Geomorphologic maps of the region around the Agilkia landing site.
These are the first two maps of the series: the base map and the preliminary geomorphologic map. More images in the series will be posted in https://univ.smugmug.com/Rosetta-Philae-Mission/Rosetta-Geomorphology,
https://univ.smugmug.com/Rosetta-Philae-Mission/Rosetta-Geomorphology/i-sdTCGzP/0/L/Agilkia_landing_site_mosaic–OSIRIS–geomorph-terrain_basemap-L.png
https://univ.smugmug.com/Rosetta-Philae-Mission/Rosetta-Geomorphology/i-xRx6w3h/0/L/Agilkia_landing_site_mosaic–OSIRIS–geomorph-terrain_basemap–annot-L.png
–Bill
Could one of these gas release jets move the comet little off course/chnage its speed and make the landing more difficult ?
Any tips on how to get my son’s primary school interests. Almost all creative/artistic background f email teachers
Lovely challenge him 🙂
Very excited.
Hope landing goes completed safely and smoothly.
Cannot wait more.
Thanks a lot for sharing.
Very excited.You`re doing a great job and thank you a lot for sharing this with us.Best wishes for the event.
Go,Rosetta/Philae and make it real!!!:)))
7 hours of terror……i am curious an excited.
Are comets dirty snow balls or rocky elctric charged objects ?
https://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/2014/10/27/wal-thornhill-and-david-talbott-on-rosetta-space-news/
https://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/2014/08/16/rosetta-mission-predictions/
Precedent predictions and results from the Thunderbolts Projects and mission Temple I from electrical engineer Wallace Thornhill :
https://www.thunderbolts.info/predictions.htm
I hope, for a successfull mission, that the Philae probe is enough and correctly electrically INSULATED.
A possible electric discharge will occure just before landing between Philae and 67P, as previously noticed with the Temple I mission impactor.
In any way, I wish a good landing to Philae, it is a so great technical challenge !!!
At what time are peanuts being served @ Darmstadt? I’ll make sure to follow suit! It’s a tradition that originated @ NASA but let’s do what we can to improve the chance of a successful landing!
Of course, sandwich! That’s what I’m doing for this operation. Or may be for this mission onwards!
I wish you all the best. Human genius in action!
All the best, great work, great feedback to the general public. Very clean website, lots of resources. Thx a lot 🙂
BELLISSIMO
Awesome! Safe landing Philae xx
why philae does have 3 feet and not 4 (presupposing that 4 feet enhance an upright landing on such a irregular surface ?)
Try to put a 4 legged chair on an irregular surface and note that 3 legs always stay in contact. Also note that with 4 legs its quite wiggly some times shifting from one stable 3 leg geometry to an other. Lesson learned?
Great coverage! As an engineer and someone with interests in technical things it would be great to hear information about the spacecraft as things progress, some more detail about how things work!
In a few hours it will be very clear that the universe is full of life
Yes it will
How much gravity is on the landing point? Kilograms or grams?
from the faq:
What is the gravity on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s surface, compared with that on Earth?
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is so small that its gravitational pull is several hundred thousand times weaker than on Earth. For this reason, the Rosetta lander will touch down at no more than a walking pace. It will need a harpoon to safely anchor it to the comet’s surface and prevent it from bouncing back into space.
It has a mass of ~200kg,
Churyumov-Gerasimenko 1.0×10^13kg
and about 4000m across, or 2000m to the centre of gravity.
F = GmM/r2
= ( 6.67 x 10^-11) (200kg) (10^13kg) / 2000^2
=0.3335 newtons.
…or virtually zero force.
Good luck guys !
God Speed
Good luck guys
Thanks for sharing this epic moment. You are awsome! Good luck and good landing! Best wishes from Spain.
Today is one of the greatest day in the history of space exploration.
This mission of the first attempt at a soft landing on a comet, to me is the most exciting & incredible space mission since I’ve been an amateur astronomer. (I was struggling to sleep last night due to excitement) Good to hear the separation went well.
Good Lucky to ESA for the rest of the mission.
A truly fantastic mission. Science fiction in reality.
Congratulations to the entire team.
Good luck for the future.
I was nervous when Giotto crossed the tail of Halley, and today I feel the same.
Thanks to all people that made posible this mission.
Congratulations! Well done!
Congrats! what a fantastic achievement by so many. Many thanks to ESA for making this happen for all of us. May fortune smile long on Philae and Rosetta and all of the Mission team!!
Scott from Tallahassee, Florida, USA