Radio Science Team at the Rosetta Science Workshop

20 Juni 2018

The Rosetta Science Workshop and Science Working Team Meeting (SWT#49) took place 29-May to 1-June on the island of Rhodes, Greece. Scientist from all contributing instrument teams came together to discuss and exchange on the latest science results from this cornerstone ESA mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This meeting was particularly special, as it was the last fully supported meeting for the US teams.

Our ISTA colleagues Prof. Emeritus Bern Häusler, Dr. Tom Andert and Graciela G. Peytaví are part of the Radio Science Investigation (RSI) experiment team, lead by Dr. Martin Pätzold at the Universität zu Köln. Using RSI, the team was able to measure the mass and gravitational potential of the comet nucleus, leading to the study of relevant geophysical processes. 

 A perhaps less known capability of RSI is the characterization of the comet surface. The high-gain antenna on Rosetta was pointed towards the comet 67P on several occasions for a Bi-Static Radar (BSR) campaign. Echoed signals reflected from the surface of the comet were recorded at DSN stations on Earth. This configuration offered a unique opportunity to study the surface roughness and electric permittivity. Here you can find our poster about BSR at comet 67P presented during the workshop.