Paton, M. D.; Kargl, G.; Ball, A. J.; Green, S. F.; Hagermann, A.; Kömle, N. I.; Thiel, M. and Zarnecki, J. C.
(2010).
![[img]](http://oro.open.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png)
|
PDF (Accepted Manuscript)
- Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Download (790Kb) |
| DOI (Digital Object Identifier) Link: | http://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2010.03.007 |
|---|---|
| Google Scholar: | Look up in Google Scholar |
Abstract
The Philae lander is part of the Rosetta mission to investigate comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will use a harpoon like device to anchor itself onto the surface. The anchor will perhaps reach depths of 1–2 m. In the anchor is a temperature sensor that will measure the boundary temperature as part of the MUPUS experiment. As the anchor attains thermal equilibrium with the comet ice it may be possible to extract the thermal properties of the surrounding ice, such as the thermal diffusivity, by using the temperature sensor data. The anchor is not an optimal shape for a thermal probe and application of analytical solutions to the heat equation is inappropriate. We prepare a numerical model to fit temperature sensor data and extract the thermal diffusivity. Penetrator probes mechanically compact the material immediately surrounding them as they enter the target. If the thermal properties, composition and dimensions of the penetrator are known, then the thermal properties of this pristine material may be recovered although this will be a challenging measurement. We report on investigations, using a numerical thermal model, to simulate a variety of scenarios that the anchor may encounter and how they will affect the measurement.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Copyright Holders: | 2010 COSPAR |
| ISSN: | 0273-1177 |
| Keywords: | penetrator; comet; rosetta; modelling; thermal; sensor |
| Academic Unit/Department: | Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) > Physical Sciences Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) |
| Interdisciplinary Research Centre: | Centre for Earth, Planetary, Space and Astronomical Research (CEPSAR) |
| Item ID: | 21514 |
| Depositing User: | John Zarnecki |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Jun 2010 10:52 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Aug 2016 00:16 |
| URI: | http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/21514 |
| Share this page: |     |
Altmetrics | Scopus Citations |
Download history for this item
These details should be considered as only a guide to the number of downloads performed manually. Algorithmic methods have been applied in an attempt to remove automated downloads from the displayed statistics but no guarantee can be made as to the accuracy of the figures.