ROSETTA-ORBITER: Radio Science Gravity Measurements at Comet 67P

NASA's Rosetta Radio Science data set provides global gravity measurements for comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The data was collected during the PRELANDING phase from 2014-01 21 to 2014-11-18, with a specific gravity measurement interval on 2014-11-16T08:35:05.000 to 2014-11-16T14:14:59.000. This dataset is version 1.0 and was last updated on the platform in 2026-03-13.

Use Cases

• Modeling the internal mass distribution of comet 67P based on global gravity measurements.
• Analyzing temporal changes in the comet's gravity field during the prelanding approach phase.
• Calibrating and validating radio science instrumentation and methods for deep-space missions.
• Studying the relationship between comet surface features and subsurface density anomalies inferred from gravity data.

Strengths

• Data originates from a definitive space agency mission, NASA's Rosetta orbiter.
• Covers a specific and critical prelanding operational phase from 2014-01-21 to 2014-11-18.
• Provides a focused global gravity measurement on 2014-11-16 over a ~5.5-hour interval.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count, file formats, and data size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the Rosetta orbiter's Radio Science Investigation (RSI) instrument.

Time Range

2014-01-21 to 2014-11-18 (PRELANDING phase), with specific measurement from 2014-11-16T08:35:05.000 to 2014-11-16T14:14:59.000

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 18:10:06.201058; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko