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ROSETTA Space Exploration Institute was selected
by the French Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS-INSU-CNES) as prime
contractor for the development of a new digital micro-camera adapted to comet
surface exploration and based on the previous micro-imager developed for ESA.
Seven such devices are installed on the Rosetta lander, which will explore
the surface of comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in August 2014. The panoramic camera of the Rosetta lander is a lightweight
imaging system designed to characterise the cometary surface near the landing
site, from anchoring legs at spatial scales not achievable by the orbiter
cameras, to the local horizon. It is composed of seven miniaturised identical
cameras incorporating a 1024x1024 pixels, frame transfer CCD and wide-angle
optics having a field-of-view of 70°. Six of them are equally spaced by 60°
to record the full panorama without mechanical rotation. The seventh camera
is co-aligned with one of the above to offer stereoscopic capability in one
of the six fields-of-views. |
One of
the 7 Rosetta Lander Micro-cameras |
