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Earth Fly-by I

Earth Fly-by activities in March 2005

Between 1st March (0:00h UTC) and 7th March (24:00h UTC), the first Earth Fly-by phase was supported from the PHILAE control center in Cologne.

During this timeframe, Philae was activated in order to take photographs of our planet with its panoramic camera system CIVA-P. In total, five pictures were recorded on 4th March between 19:54h UTC and 22:49h UTC. Additionally, the magnetometer ROMAP-MAG was switched on (1st March 01:00h UTC) to perform a calibration with the well-known magnetic field of earth.

Schedule of PHILAE activities during Earth Fly-by 1st - 7th March 2005

1. Tuesday, 1st March 2005
   • 00:00 (UTC) activation of PHILAE.
   • 00:10 (UTC) upload of updated command sequences for Earth Fly-by
   • 00:45 (UTC) power down of hibernation heaters
   • 01:00 (UTC) activation and start of measurement sequence of the ROMAP experiment
   • 10:52 - 22:19 (UTC) download of telemetry
     
2. Wednesday, 2nd March 2005
   • 10:48 - 22:11 (UTC) download of telemetry
     
3. Thursday, 3rd March 2005
   • 10:44 - 21:57 (UTC) download of telemetry
     
4. Friday, 4th March 2005
   • 10:39 - 19:56 (UTC) download of telemetry
   • 19:54:10 (UTC) activation of Civa-P experiment and camera heaters
   • 21:12:07 (UTC) entry into the outer radiation belt
   • 21:30:03 (UTC) exit from the outer radiation belt
   • 21:48:15 (UTC) entry into the inner (Van Allen) radiation belt
   • 21:57:50 (UTC) start of the first camera sequence on Civa-P
   • 21:59:17 (UTC) exit from the inner (Van Allen) radiation belt
   • 22:07:50 (UTC) start of the second camera sequence on Civa-P
   • 22:09:30 (UTC) closest approach to Earth during Fly-by
   • 22:17:50 (UTC) start of the third camera sequence on Civa-P
   • 22:19:16 (UTC) entry into the inner (Van Allen) radiation belt
   • 22:27:50 (UTC) start of the fourth camera sequence on Civa-P
   • 22:30:18 (UTC) entry into the inner (Van Allen) radiation belt
   • 22:37:50 (UTC) start of the fifth camera sequence on Civa-P
   • 22:48:30 (UTC) entry into the outer radiation belt
   • 22:49:40 (UTC) shutdown of Civa-P experiment and camera heaters
   • 23:06:27 (UTC) exit from the outer radiation belt
     
5. Saturday, 5th March 2005
   • 14:43 - 04:25 (UTC) download of telemetry
   • 14:11:00 (UTC) closest approach to the moon during Swing-by
     
6. Sunday, 6th March 2005
   • 14:25 - 04:40 (UTC) download of telemetry
     
7. Monday, 7th March 2005
   • 14:17 - 04:35 (UTC) download of telemetry
   • 23:30:30 shutdown of ROMAP experiment
   • 23:50:00 shutdown of Philae and power up of hibernation heaters
     
8. Dienstag, 08.03.2005
   • 04:12 - 04:35 (UTC) dump of Philae telemetry

Glossary:

• Civa-P
  comprises a stereoscopic panoramic camera system, a microscope in the visible spectrum and an infrared spectral analyzer for the samples to be collected by the SD2 drill
  Provider: IAS, Paris-Orsay
• Romap
  (Rosetta Lander Magnetometer and Spectrometer) comprises a sensitive magnetometer (MAG) for measurement of the comet's magnetic field (combination of solar wind, coma and possibly the magnetic field of the core) and a plasma spectrometer (SPM) for analysis of electrons and ions in the comet's plasma atmosphere