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Compugraphics is beaming with pride after learning of the success of the Rosetta probe mission in November 2014. The company is congratulating its client, E2V, who developed the CCD imaging devices on board Rosetta using Compugraphics’ photomasks.
Rosetta made history by launching the robot probe Philae on to the surface of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko some 310 million miles from earth. The mission, which has taken over a decade to complete, was declared a success.
Philae, which is no bigger than a washing machine, took seven hours to touch down on the comet after failing its first attempt to attach to the surface. However, after Philae bounced hundreds of meters back off the surface the small satellite managed to regain its footing and stabilised on the comet.
E2V, which has been working with Compugraphics for over 20 years, developed the CCD imaging devices on Rosetta responsible for locating a safe landing zone and capturing the crystal clear images of the comet’s surface.
Compugraphics photomasks were used to create:
• OSIRIS, the high-resolution imaging camera. It has a narrow field and wide field camera
• NAVCAM, the navigation camera
• VIRTIS (Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer), which maps and studies the nature of the solids and the temperature on the surface of the comet. It also identifies gases and characterises the physical conditions of the comet.
Rosetta was launched in 2004 and in August this year achieved a significant milestone by
becoming the first spacecraft to orbit a comet’s nucleus. Since then, Rosetta has been orbiting comet 67P and mapping its nucleus in great detail, and in September identified the potential landing site for Philae.
Rosetta is the first mission in history to rendezvous with a comet, escort it as it orbits the sun and deploy a lander onto its surface.
ESA project scientist Matt Taylor said: “The orbiter will remain alongside the comet for over a year, watching it grow in activity as it approaches the sun, getting to within 180 million kilometers (112 million miles) in summer next year, when the comet will be expelling hundreds of kilograms of material every second.”
Compugraphics’ photomasks have been used in some of the most pioneering projects in the world and this amazing story is testament to this. The Rosetta mission provides insight into how photomasks can be applied to important advances in technology and now, it seems, make history.