1. Virtis: An Imaging Spectrometer for the Rosetta Mission
- Author
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Uwe Fink, Bortolino Saggin, Sergio Fonti, Eleonora Ammannito, Costanzo Federico, Vittorio Formisano, M.C. Desanctis, M. I. Blecka, Pasquale Palumbo, Bernard Schmitt, Michael R. Combi, Antonella Barucci, Luigi Colangeli, Thomas B. McCord, Wing-Huen Ip, Heike Rauer, Maria Teresa Capria, Stéphane Erard, Gabriele Arnold, Gianrico Filacchione, Francesco Angrilli, G. Bianchini, Pierre Drossart, Jean-Pierre Bibring, Yves Langevin, Stefano Mottola, G. Neukum, Giulio Magni, E. T. Encrenaz, Angioletta Coradini, R. W. Carlson, G. P. Tozzi, Johannes Benkhoff, Uri Carsenty, M. Combes, E. Kuehrt, Giuseppe Piccioni, Priscilla Cerroni, Ralf Jaumann, Fabrizio Capaccioni, Vito Mennella, J. Crovisier, Dominique Bockelée-Morvan, Didier Tiphene, Giancarlo Bellucci, Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario (IFSI), National Research Council of Italy | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica - Roma (IASF-Roma), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), German Aerospace Center (DLR), Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica, Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua (Unipd), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency (ESA), Institut d'astrophysique spatiale (IAS), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES), Polska Akademia Nauk = Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte (OAC), Space Physics Research Laboratory [Ann Arbor] (SPRL), University of Michigan [Ann Arbor], University of Michigan System-University of Michigan System, Università degli Studi di Perugia = University of Perugia (UNIPG), Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson] (LPL), University of Arizona, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli studi di Lecce, Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Department of Earth and Space Sciences [Seattle], University of Washington [Seattle], Laboratoire de Planétologie de Grenoble (LPG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri (OAA), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), Universita degli Studi di Padova, European Space Agency (ESA), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Polska Akademia Nauk (PAN), Università degli Studi di Perugia (UNIPG), Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung (MPS), and California Institute of Technology (CALTECH)-NASA
- Subjects
spectroscopy ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Comet ,Imaging spectrometer ,Context (language use) ,space mission ,01 natural sciences ,7. Clean energy ,Space exploration ,Comets ,Space missions ,Spectroscopy ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Space and Planetary Science ,Astrobiology ,law.invention ,Orbiter ,law ,0103 physical sciences ,comets ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Remote sensing ,Mars Exploration Program ,space missions ,Planetary science ,13. Climate action ,Asteroid ,Geology - Abstract
International audience; The VIRTIS (Visual IR Thermal Imaging Spectrometer) experiment has been one of the most successful experiments built in Europe for Planetary Exploration. VIRTIS, developed in cooperation among Italy, France and Germany, has been already selected as a key experiment for 3 planetary missions: the ESA-Rosetta and Venus Express and NASA-Dawn. VIRTIS on board Rosetta and Venus Express are already producing high quality data: as far as Rosetta is concerned, the Earth-Moon system has been successfully observed during the Earth Swing-By manouver (March 2005) and furthermore, VIRTIS will collect data when Rosetta flies by Mars in February 2007 at a distance of about 200 kilometres from the planet. Data from the Rosetta mission will result in a comparison – using the same combination of sophisticated experiments – of targets that are poorly differentiated and are representative of the composition of different environment of the primordial solar system. Comets and asteroids, in fact, are in close relationship with the planetesimals, which formed from the solar nebula 4.6 billion years ago. The Rosetta mission payload is designed to obtain this information combining in situ analysis of comet material, obtained by the small lander Philae, and by a long lasting and detailed remote sensing of the comet, obtained by instrument on board the orbiting Spacecraft. The combination of remote sensing and in situ measurements will increase the scientific return of the mission. In fact, the “in situ” measurements will provide “ground-truth” for the remote sensing information, and, in turn, the locally collected data will be interpreted in the appropriate context provided by the remote sensing investigation. VIRTIS is part of the scientific payload of the Rosetta Orbiter and will detect and characterise the evolution of specific signatures – such as the typical spectral bands of minerals and molecules – arising from surface components and from materials dispersed in the coma. The identification of spectral features is a primary goal of the Rosetta mission as it will allow identification of the nature of the main constituent of the comets. Moreover, the surface thermal evolution during comet approach to sun will be also studied.
- Published
- 2007
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