http://lmms.external.lmco.com/newsbureau/pressreleases/02.42.html<br /><br />Lockheed Martin Press Release<br />Contact: <br />Monica Bobra (650) 424-3108<br />Monica.bobra@lmco.com<br />or<br />Buddy Nelson (510) 797-0349<br />Pager: (888) 916-1797<br />buddynelson@mac.com <br /><br />Lockheed Martin space instrument to study comet discovered <br />by Santa Cruz astronomer<br /><br />PALO ALTO, Calif., July 23, 2002 -- An instrument called ROSINA,<br />with key components designed and built at the Lockheed Martin<br />Advanced Technology Center (ATC) in Palo Alto, will be launched<br />early next year on the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta<br />spacecraft. The goal of the ambitious international mission is to catch<br />up with, orbit, and land on Comet Wirtanen in an effort to answer<br />questions about the origin of our Solar System. "Rosetta has the most<br />instruments of any spacecraft -- that makes it challenging and one of<br />the most exciting missions ever," said Dr. Claudia Alexander, U.S.<br />Project Scientist for the mission and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory<br />(JPL) scientist. "We're going to see some big discoveries, just like<br />Galileo and Cassini."<br /><br />Chosen among hundreds for its uniquely high volatile and organic<br />material content, Comet Wirtanen was discovered by Carl A. Wirtanen<br />on January 17, 1948 at the University of California, Santa Cruz Lick<br />Observatory. His wife Edith Wirtanen, who still devotes time to the<br />Visitors' Services Department at Lick, succeeds him. "Carl would have<br />been very excited about the Rosetta mission," said Mrs. Wirtanen. "He<br />wanted to see what was inside the comet like everybody else. We<br />always teased him about discovering comets--that you'd get a medal<br />for each comet you discovered and at this rate, that he could use<br />them to tile the floor. He discovered about five of them. He had no idea<br />that it [Comet Wirtanen] would be this famous." <br /><br />Comets are icy preserves of the material present during the formation<br />of the solar system, unhindered by the Sun's scorching effects.<br />Ground-based studies show strong indications that complex organic<br />molecules, such as hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen, sit<br />beneath the surface of comets. These elements make up nucleic and<br />amino acids, which are essential for creating life. Was life on Earth<br />spawned by a chance comet encounter? ATC helped develop ROSINA<br />with the University of Bern and other institutions to help scientists find<br />the answer.<br /><br />The Rosetta Stone was used to decipher the meaning of a language<br />-- the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt -- that previously eluded<br />anyone who dared to try. ESA's spacecraft aims to be the Rosetta<br />Stone of the solar system -- the decipherer of the many secrets<br />comets hold in their icy, dusty cores. Leading theories regarding their<br />physical and chemical composition, mass, surface and evolution differ<br />widely. Only with an instrument like the one designed with an<br />international team including the ATC can the various theories be<br />tested.<br /><br />ROSINA -- for Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral<br />Analysis -- will perform composition analysis on the Rosetta mission.<br />A mass spectrometer uses electric and magnetic fields to map the<br />mass of an ion to its chemical composition. <br /><br />ROSINA will analyze particles in the comet's atmosphere by mass,<br />physical and chemical composition, temperature, and velocity. Such<br />data will yield important results about the formation, position and origin<br />of comets, the similarities between cometary material and the<br />interstellar material present during the birth of the solar system, and<br />help to determine relationships between comets and asteroids. <br /><br />As the highest resolution mass spectrometer ever flown, ROSINA will<br />measure the isotopes Carbon 12 and Carbon 13, which differ by a<br />single neutron. Such elements are used in carbon dating, which<br />determines the age of an organism. "The Carbon 12 to Carbon 13 ratio<br />in a comet tells us about the material that was present in the dense<br />interstellar medium that formed our Sun. Only comets have this<br />information frozen within them," said Dr. Stephen Fuselier of Lockheed<br />Martin's ATC and U.S. lead co-investigator for the ROSINA instrument.<br /><br />"One of the mission's most exciting pieces of information will come from<br />the ROSINA instrument," said Alexander. "ROSINA will perform carbon<br />dating on the comet's nucleus. One of the things that we don't know is<br />whether comets were part of our solar system in the beginning.<br />Figuring out the age of the surface of the comet will help us to figure<br />out what their role was to make the solar system come to being and<br />whether they bring in particles from outside the solar system."<br /><br />ROSINA will also find out what generation star our Sun is. "ROSINA<br />will determine the metal content of the interstellar medium that formed<br />our Sun by using the Carbon 12 and 13, and carbon monoxide and<br />nitrogen ratios found inside comets," said Fuselier. "If it is very metal<br />rich, we know our Sun is not a second generation star because the Big<br />Bang only created hydrogen and helium. By determining the metalloids<br />inside the comet we can also deduce the size of the star that created<br />our Sun."<br /><br />Rosetta's ten-year mission begins with a launch in January 2003 from<br />Kourou, French Guiana. Flying first out to Mars and then back to<br />Earth, Rosetta will use the gravitational momentum from both planets to<br />slingshot it farther into space. It will then pass by asteroid Otawara in<br />July 2006 and complete another Earth gravity assist in November<br />2007. Rosetta will fly by asteroid Siwa in July 2008 and finally reach<br />comet Wirtanen in November 2011. The spacecraft will spend two<br />years mapping and examining the surface using remote sensing,<br />analyzing dust and vapors, and finally releasing a lander. <br /><br />During its mission, Rosetta will fly by asteroids Otawara and Siwa on<br />its eight-year journey to comet Wirtanen. Otwara is the smallest<br />asteroid to be visited by a spacecraft; Siwa is the largest. Asteroids<br />are referred to as planetesimals -- tiny seeds that were denied the<br />chance to accrete into anything larger. At times containing impact<br />marks nearly as big as the size of the asteroid itself, asteroid collisions<br />tell us about the turbulent nature of our solar system during its<br />formation. Analyzing their composition and mass can help determine<br />the likelihood of an asteroid-Earth collision. <br /><br />Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company is one of the major<br />operating units of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Space Systems<br />designs, develops, tests, manufactures, and operates a variety of<br />advanced technology systems for military, civil and commercial<br />customers. Chief products include a full-range of space launch<br />systems, including heavy-lift capability, ground systems, remote<br />sensing and communications satellites for commercial and government<br />customers, advanced space observatories and interplanetary<br />spacecraft, fleet ballistic missiles and missile defense systems. <br /><br />Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global<br />enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development,<br />manufacture, and integration of advanced-technology systems,<br />products, and services. The Corporation's core businesses are systems<br />integration, space, aeronautics, and technology services. Employing<br />more than 125,000 people worldwide, Lockheed Martin had 2001 sales<br />surpassing $24 billion.