The Historical Flight of Rosetta in the eye of Prof. Roger Bonnet
On November 12，Philae，the plucky comet lander from the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Rosetta mission, hit its target on Comet 67p/Chunyumov-Gerasimenko, and became the first artificial object that had ever landed on the Comet.
Several days after the resounding success of Philae, on November 28, a scientific lecture entitled The Historical flight of Rosetta to Comet 67p-CG was delivered at the National Space Science Center (NSSC), by Prof. Roger Maurice Bonnet, former Director of Science Programme at ESA and witness of the Rosetta Mission.
“All the scientific instruments are working normally, and all goals have been achieved so far”, Prof. Roger Bonnet thus confirmed during the lecture. He also shared with NSSC audiences the landing sound of Philae, the ice-like bumpy surface of the Comet 67p as well as the panoramic view of Comet taken by Rosetta’s onboard camera.
Scientific details such as Philae’s scientific goals, physical structures, current conditions and future exploration plans were also revealed at the lecture. “Rosetta is now observing the comet from distance. Its lander Philae has no power right now, therefore, it will wait until the Sun comes and shine. The orbiter Rosetta is now watching and listening to the lander, waiting to operate the lander when there is electricity in it, probably within three or four month.”
Roger Bonnet conducted solar physics research in his early research career; He serves as the Chairman of ESA’s Science Advisory Committee (SAC) from 1977 to 1979, the Executive Director of the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern, Switzerland in January 2003 and was elected as the President of COSPAR (Committee for Space Research) in Oct 2002.
Prof. Roger Bonnet published more than 150 papers and accomplished several academic works including Surviving 1000 Centuries. Can we do it? He is also an IAA member and received numerous awards, including COSPAR Science Award in 2000, International Scientific and Technology Cooperation Award of PRC in 2013 and the Friendship Award of PRC. Currently, he is the senior consultant scientist of the CAS Priority Research Program on Space Science and the Board of Trustee member of International Space Science Institute Beijing Branch (ISSI-BJ).
