This area will cover relevant news of the threat to the planet from Near Earth Objects (NEOs) including concepts and designs for mitigation. All opinions are those of the author.

05 February 2007

ESA ROSETTA Spacecraft images Lutetia asteroid

"Earlier this month ESA's Rosetta had a first look at asteroid 21-Lutetia, one of the targets of its long mission. The onboard camera OSIRIS imaged the asteroid passing through its field of view during the spacecraft's gradual approach to Mars. The planet will be reached on 25 February 2007 for the mission's next gravity assist...During its long trek to final destination (comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko), Rosetta is planned to study two asteroids – 2867-Steins and 21-Lutetia, both lying in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter."

"This view of Mars (visible towards the top of the image) and of the Milky Way was taken by the OSRIS camera on board the Rosetta orbiter on 3 December 2006, during the last series of instrument check-outs. In this image Mars is heavily overexposed and therefore surrounded by a halo of scattered light."

Article: "Rosetta images asteroid Lutetia" (26 January 2007)

Link: ESA Press Release

Link: Images from ROSETTA

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