ESA’s Rosetta mission has concluded as planned, with the controlled impact onto the comet 67P. The descent gave Rosetta the opportunity to study the comet’s gas, dust and plasma environment very close to its surface, as well as take very high-resolution images.
The space probe Rosetta was built by the ESA (European Space Agency) with the objective of reach and study Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Was launched on March 2004 from Kourou. To place it on the required orbit to rendezvous with Comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko it received four gravity assist manoeuvres: 3 from Earth (4 March 2005, 13 November 2007 and 13 November 2009) and 1 from Mars (25 February 2007).
Rosetta reached the Comet after a journey of ten years, on 6th August 2014. Since then, it is orbiting the comet and followed it as it orbits the Sun, it also deployed its lander Philae to its surface.
After two years living with the comet, Rosetta and the comet are now heading out beyond the orbit of Jupiter again. Travelling further from the Sun than ever before, and faced with a significant reduction in solar power that it needs to operate, Rosetta's destiny has been set, follow Philae down onto the surface of the comet.
ALTER TECHNOLOGY was the cordinated procurement agency for all the electronic components on board, helping the customers in the selection, procurement, engineering and testing of electronic components. A total of 185.000 electronic components of 1.500 different types from 72 manufacturers were procured by us.