Page 40 - Italy In Space
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Interplanetary Probes [7]
June 10, 2014. Rosetta arrives at the Comet 67/ Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Its instruments start observations
and begin sending science data back to Earth. Commemorative cover cancelled in Pasadena where the
NASA’s JPL Deep Space Network Tracking Station is based.
August 6, 2014. Rosetta is inserted into the orbit of the comet at 25 km and starts to map the nucleus in great
detail. Their relative speed is slowed down to a few cm/sec. Rosetta is equipped with 3 instruments made in
Italy: VIRTIS (Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer, INAF Roma), GIADA (Grain Impact
Analyser and Dust Accumulator, Univ. Neaple), WAC (Wide Angle Camera, Univ Padua). Commemorative
cover cancelled in Pasadena where the NASA’s JPL Deep Space Network Tracking Station is based.
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