The Rosetta lander.
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Image courtesy NASA.

Rosetta lander instruments

The Rosetta lander has many instruments that it will use to make measurements when it lands on Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The instruments carried by the lander are described in detail in the table below. The instruments on the Rosetta orbiter are described on a separate page.


Instrument Purpose Principal investigator
ALICE - Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer Analyzes gases in comet's coma and tail Dr. Alan Stern, Southwest Research Institute, USA
CONSERT - Comet Nucleus Sounding Experiment by Radiowave Transmission Radio sounding, nucleus tomography - uses radio waves to probe comet's interior Prof. Wlodek Kofman, Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Ingenieurs, France
COSIMA - Cometary Secondary Ion Mass Analyser Dust mass spectrometer - chemical analysis of dust grains Dr. Jochen Kissel, Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Germany
GIADA - Grain Impact Analyser and Dust Accumulator Dust velocity and impact measurement - number, masses, and velocities of dust grains coming from the comet Prof. Luigi Colangeli, Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Italy
MIDAS - Micro-Imaging Dust Analysis System Micro-imaging dust analysis - physical analysis (size, shape, etc.) of dust grains Prof. Willi Riedler, Space Research Institute, Austria
MIRO - Microwave Instrument for the Rosetta Orbiter Microwave spectrometer - measures major gases and sub-surface temperature of the comet Dr. Samuel Gulkis, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA
OSIRIS - Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System Wide-angle and narrow-angle cameras Dr. Horst Uwe Keller, Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie, Germany
ROSINA - Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis Neutral gas and ion mass spectrometer - chemical analysis of comet's atmosphere Prof. Hans Balsiger, University of Bern, Switzerland
RPC - Rosetta Plasma Consortium Plasma measurements - 5 sensors measure physical properties of the nucleus, the structure of the coma, and the comet's interaction with the solar wind Dr. Rolf Boström, Swedish Inst. of Space Physics, Sweden
Dr. James Burch, Southwest Research Institute, USA
Prof. Karl-Heinz Glassmeier, Technische Universität, Germany
Prof. Rickard Lundin, Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Sweden
Dr. Jean-Gabriel Trotignon, LPCE/CNRS, France
RSI - Radio Science Investigation Spacecraft's radio signals are used to measure the mass & density of the nucleus and to define the comet's orbit. Dr. Martin Pätzold, Universität Köln, Germany
VIRTIS - Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer Maps the temperature on the surface of the nucleus & identifies gases Dr. Angioletta Coradini, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale, Italy
Last modified January 8, 2004 by Randy Russell.

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