ROSETTA-ORBITER 67P: Ion Density and Velocity Measurements from RPCICA

NASA's Rosetta mission data contains derived moment measurements of ion density and bulk velocity for masses 1, 2, 4, and 18 amu/e, collected by the RPCICA instrument during the mission's second extension. The dataset captures the solar wind's interaction with the atmosphere of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. It was last updated on March 13, 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling cometary ionosphere dynamics based on ion density measurements.
• Analyzing solar wind interaction with a comet's atmosphere based on ion bulk velocity data.
• Studying mass-specific ion behavior (1, 2, 4, 18 amu/e) in a cometary environment.

Strengths

• Data originates from the authoritative NASA Rosetta mission.
• Focuses on four specific ion masses (1, 2, 4, 18 amu/e) for targeted analysis.
• Captures a specific phase of the mission (Rosetta extension 2).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Derived from measurements by the RPCICA instrument on the Rosetta orbiter.

Time Range

Covers the Rosetta mission's second extension period.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 16:19:03.537957; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Measurements taken at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.