Nice

here another picture while we wait for the 12th:



Comet on 28 October – NavCam
Four-image montage comprising images taken by Rosetta's navigation camera from a distance of 9.7 km from the centre of comet 67P/C-G – about 7.7 km from the surface. The corresponding image scale is about 65 cm/pixel, so each 1024 x 1024 pixel frame is about 665 m across.

Just a pre-warning for all those interested:

Media and interested members of the public are invited to join Rosetta mission experts online on Friday, 7 November for a briefing ahead of the historic comet landing on 12 November.
Programme:
Introduction: Emily Baldwin, ESA space science editor
Overview of media events: Jocelyne Landeau-Constantin, Head of ESOC communication office
Science from Rosetta so far: Matt Taylor, ESA Rosetta project scientist
Spacecraft status and operations timeline: Andrea Accomazzo, ESA Rosetta flight director
Key messages: Fred Jansen, ESA Rosetta mission manager
Q&A: all
Post questions below or live on the day via G+ or on Twitter using the hashtag #AskRosetta . Note: Priority during the Q&A session is given to questions asked by members of the Media.
Event starts 16:00 CET/15:00 GMT.

thanks for the warning mate !

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29902456

Rosetta comet mission: Landing site named 'Agilkia'



Site "J", now called "Agilkia", is on the head of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

if you have the time, read the whole bbc article.

these are extraordinary pictures

more and more media outlets are waking up to the rosetta/philae adventure, eg http://www.businessinsider.com.au/rosetta-7-hours-of-terror-with-philae-probe-2014-11
much is regurgitated information but the linked video is worth watching, so let me say that even if you don't read the article
definitely watch this youtube link -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5iyZTXiX78

nasa has also developed a little game on how to land on a comet -> http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/comet-quest/en/#

The 'dark side' of the comet
A rare glimpse at the dark side of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Light backscattered from dust particles in the comet’s coma reveals a hint of surface structures. This image was taken by OSIRIS, Rosetta’s scientific imaging system, on 29 September 2014 from a distance of approximately 19 kilometres. The image scale is approximately 1.7 metres/pixel, so the image measures about 3.5 km across.

that image was taken before rosetta moved closer to the comet, now rosetta is taking some distance again to be in the right orbit to 'spit out' philae



Comet detail – 30 October 2014
An image of a portion of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko obtained on 30 October, 2014 by Rosetta's OSIRIS scientific imaging system from a distance of approximately 30 kilometres. At this distance, the image scale is approximately 0.5 metres/pixel, so the image measures about 1.1 km across.

Comet detail – 30 October 2014
A deliberately saturated version of this image to bring out details in a shadowed region of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image was taken on 30 October 2014 by Rosetta's OSIRIS scientific imaging system from a distance of approximately 30 kilometres. At this distance, the image scale is approximately 0.5 metres/pixel, so the image measures about 1.1 km across.

and here a sketch how they intend to move rosetta relative to the comet in the next few weeks



Rosetta’s trajectory: October – December
Labelled diagram indicating Rosetta’s trajectory from the end of October until early December. The diagram covers the manoeuvres Rosetta executed to get onto the trajectory required to deploy Philae to the surface on 12 November, and the trajectory it will follow to return to a 20 km orbit the comet afterwards.

rosetta is now well on it's way on the separation trajectory, another look at the landing site:



Agilkia landing site, 6 November 2014
The Agilkia landing site is seen on this image of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, taken with Rosetta’s navigation camera on 6 November, just days before its lander Philae makes its historic descent to the surface.
The image presented here is a mosaic of four individual NavCam frames, captured from a distance of 30.5 km from the comet centre on 6 November while Rosetta was en route to the separation trajectory from which it will deploy Philae on 12 November. At this distance, the image scale is 2.6 m/pixel, and the mosaic measures 3.7 x 3.3 km.
The landing site, covering about one square kilometre, is located close to the top of this image, above the easily recognisable, boulder-filled depression that characterises the smaller of the comet’s two lobes. Although it may not seem like it from this image, Agilkia – previously known as Site J – presented the least hazardous terrain of all the landing sites considered during the selection process.