ROSETTA is a European Space Agency mission for the study of a cometary nucleus environment and its evolution in the inner solar system. To enhance the scientific capabilities of the mission, the Orbiter spacecraft will carry one probe, called ROSETTA Lander which will land on the comet surface for in situ investigations. One of the key subsystems of the Lander is the drill, sample and DS2 (Distribution Subsystem), a robotic tool able to collect and distribute cometary samples to the on board analysis instruments. DS2 is able to drill the comet surface to a suited depth ranging from the surface down to 250 mm and to collect several samples of material on a stepwise way from pre-determined and/or known depths. The same subsystem transport each sample to the carousel sample feed position for deploying to different stations: spectrometer, volume check plug, oven for high and medium temperatures and cleaning. After the drilling operation the drill bit is removed from the borehole in order to allow the sampler insertion for the sampling operation. Moreover, the sampler itself delivers the collected sample to the ovens. The carousel is a thin plate placed at the flat ground plate level with several microcontainers (ovens) to hold the sample material. A rotation actuator enables the carousel to mate each microcontainer with all the measurements and the cleaning station. The cleaning station is needed because some of the ovens will be reused. The local control unit is able to interpret and execute the autonomous commands/tasks, provide data interface with ROSETTA Lander and interface with the drivers for motor control.
Robotics for ROSETTA cometary landing mission
Der roboterisierte Probenehmer und Bodenanalysator für die Bodenuntersuchung von Kometen im Rahmen des ROSETTA-Programms
Robotics and Autonomous Systems ; 23 , 1/2 ; 73-77
1998
5 Seiten, 5 Bilder, 5 Quellen
Article (Journal)
English
Rosetta Mission: Orbital Motion Around a Cometary Nucleus
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