UK Media briefing: Rosetta - rendez-vous with a comet

The European Space Agency's pioneering Rosetta mission to comet Wirtanen is scheduled for launch from Europe's spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, on the night of 12th/13th January 2003.

Members of the media are cordially invited to attend a pre-launch Press briefing and buffet lunch to be held in the John Flett Lecture Theatre, The Natural History Museum, on Monday 6th January commencing at 11.00am [registration from 10.30am onwards, location map: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/functions ]., ,The briefing, led by the Government's Science and Innovation Minister Lord Sainsbury, UK scientists and industrialists, and representatives from ESA and PPARC, will provide an insight into the overall mission and its scientific objectives., ,Speakers, ,Lord Sainsbury, Minister for Science and Innovation,Prof. David Southwood, ESA Director of Science,Dr. Ian Wright, Open University, Principal Investigator, PTOLEMY experiment on the Lander,Dr. Chris Carr, Imperial College London, Joint Principal Investigator, Rosetta Plasma Consortium instruments on the orbiter,Dr. Mike Healy, Astrium Director of Earth Observation, Navigation and Science,,Prof. Ian Halliday, Chief Executive, PPARC,In addition representatives from other UK universities involved and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory [RAL] will be available for comment and interview., ,Media registration,To confirm your attendance please contact Julia Maddock at PPARC.,Tel: [phone],Email: [e-mail], ,Interviews,Requests for interviews will be co-ordinated by Julia Maddock on the day., ,VNR and Press Pack,A VNR and Press Pack will be available at the briefing., ,Lunch,The briefing will be followed by a buffet lunch., ,Background, ,Mission objectives,Rosetta will study the nucleus of comet Wirtanen and its environment in unprecedented detail for a period of nearly two years as the comet journeys towards the Sun, before finally landing a probe onto the comets surface of frozen ice and dust to perform in-situ experiments. The scientific data will shed new light on the origin of comets, the relationship between cometary and interstellar material and its implications on the origin of our own Solar System. , ,Launch and flight,An Ariane 5 is scheduled to launch the Rosetta spacecraft on the night of 12th/13th January 2003 from Kourou, French Guiana. It will rendezvous with comet Wirtanen after an eight-year flight, during which time it will inspect two asteroids [Otawara and Siwa] at close quarters. To gain enough orbital energy to reach its target, Rosetta will require one Mars and two Earth gravity assists. The spacecraft will experience extended periods of hibernation during its long mission., ,UK science involvement,The UK has instruments on both the orbiter and lander, with involvement from several university groups. In particular the PTOLEMY experiment onboard the lander, for which The Open University has Principal Investigator status, will decipher the complex interacting chemistry of light elements in the comet. Imperial College London is one of six Principal Investigator groups within the Rosetta Science Plasma Consortium [RPC] group of instruments on the orbiter, providing the hardware that interfaces the plasma sensors with the spacecraft. RPC will study the plasma environment of the comet, particularly the interaction of the plasma with the dust and gas materials ejected., ,UK industrial involvement,Several UK industrial companies have supplied critical components, assemblies and software for the Rosetta spacecraft including Astrium [orbit control and propulsion], Logica [onboard software autonomy], SciSys [satellite control and operations system]. , ,The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) is the UK's strategic science investment agency. It funds research, education and public understanding in four areas of science - particle physics, astronomy, cosmology and space science. , ,PPARC is government funded and provides research grants and studentships to scientists in British universities, gives researchers access to world-class facilities and funds the UK membership of international bodies such as the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), the European Southern Observatory and the European Space Agency. It also contributes money for the UK telescopes overseas on La Palma, Hawaii, Australia and in Chile, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility, which includes the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank observatory.
PPARC's Public Understanding of Science and Technology Awards Scheme funds both small local projects and national initiatives aimed at improving public understanding of its areas of science.
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