Current status and scientific capabilities of the Rosetta lander payload Original Research Article

ESAʹs cornerstone mission “ROSETTA” to comet 46P/Wirtanen will bring a 100 kg Lander (provided by an international European consortium) with a scientific payload of about 27 kg to the surface of the cometʹs nucleus. After a first scientific sequence it will operate for a considerable fraction of the cometary orbit around the sun (between 3 AU and 2 AU). The Lander is an autonomous spacecraft, powered with solar cells and using the ROSETTA Orbiter as a telemetry relais to Earth. The main scientific objectives are the in-situ investigation of the chemical, elemental, isotopic and mineralogical composition of the comet, study of the physical properties of the surface material, analyze the internal structure of the nucleus, observe temporal variations (day/night cycle, approach to sun), study the relationship between the comet and the interplanetary matter and provide ground reference data for Orbiter instruments.Ten experiments with a number of sub-experiments are foreseen to fulfil these objectives. In this paper we present the current status of the instrumental development and the scientific capabilities of each of the experiments.