The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission will deliver its lander Philae to the surface of comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014, after a 10-year journey through space. One of the instruments carried is MUPUS - Multi-Purpose Sensors for Surface and Sub-Surface Science, a German-led instrument with PSSRI involvement. The aim of the instrument is to measure some of the physical properties of the surface of the nucleus of the comet, such as temperature, surface hardness and bulk density. PSSRI is involved mainly in the penetrometry experiment built into the lander's harpoon anchor for thermal and mechanical measurements, and was also involved in the bulk density profile measurement system.
For more details, visit the MUPUS home page or contact
Dr Axel Hagermann.
