ROSETTA-ORBITER 67P: Solar Wind Measurements from the RPCICA Instrument

NASA's RPCICA instrument on the ROSETTA mission collected raw data of the undisturbed solar wind and its interaction with comet 67P's atmosphere during the prelanding phase. Version 3.0 of this dataset expands data to a uniform resolution and includes new quality flags and variables. The dataset was last updated on March 13, 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyzing solar wind properties before comet interaction based on measurements of undisturbed solar wind.
• Studying the interaction between solar wind and a cometary atmosphere based on data collected close to comet 67P.
• Comparing data quality and resolution across versions based on the inclusion of new quality flags and uniform resolution.
• Investigating instrument operational modes based on the inclusion of the mode variable.

Strengths

• Data is from a specific, well-documented space mission (ROSETTA) and instrument (RPCICA).
• Dataset version 3.0 includes expanded uniform resolution and new quality flags.
• Data captures a specific scientific phase: prelanding measurements of solar wind and its comet interaction.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The raw data is uncalibrated, which may require additional processing for analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected by the RPCICA instrument onboard the ROSETTA orbiter.

Time Range

Prelanding phase of the ROSETTA mission.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 13:12:47.797328; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Space, specifically around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.