No. 93 - 4th Solar Orbit
Activities had a relatively low profile during the reporting period and performance of the mission has been nominal. A passive payload check-out was carried out at the beginning of January, interleaved with solar torques characterisation activities. Observations of portion of sky to be seen during the approach to asteroid Steins are continuing.
| DOY | Date | Pass | Main Activity |
| 002 | 02/01/08 | NNO 1405 | Monitoring |
| 003 | 03/01/08 | NNO 1406 | Monitoring and RSI passive checkout #7 |
| 009 | 09/01/08 | NNO 1412 | Data downlink |
| 010 | 10/01/08 | NNO 1413 | Data downlink |
| 014 | 14/01/08 | NNO 1417 | Monitoring & Steins observations |
| 017 | 17/01/08 | NNO 1420 | NAVCAM OBSM |
At the end of the reporting period (DoY 018) Rosetta was at 48.32 million km from Earth (0.32 AU) and the one-way signal travel time was 161 seconds. The distance to the Sun was 146.92 million km (0.982 AU).
Spacecraft
During the reporting period a passive check-out (PC7) took place (from DoY 003 to DoY 009).ALICE
The instrument was operated during PC7 and now is OFF.
CONSERT
The instrument was operated during PC7 and now is OFF.
COSIMA
The instrument is OFF.
GIADA
The instrument was operated during PC7 and now is OFF.
MIDAS
The instrument was operated during PC7 and now is OFF.
MIRO
The instrument was operated during PC7 and now is OFF.
OSIRIS
The instrument is OFF.
ROSINA
Instrument is on as part of an out-gassing attempt. It is planned to switch off the instrument by the end of January.
RPC
The instrument was operated during PC7 and now is OFF.
RSI
The USO was unmuted on DoY 003 as part of the PC7 activities which were conducted from 003.20.00 to 003.23.00.
VIRTIS
The instrument is OFF.
LANDER Philae
The instrument is OFF.
SREM
Since DoY 248/2007 the accumulation settings are configured for active cruise mode.
Future Milestones
The cruise phase continues towards asteroid Steins that will be encountered early September 2008. During the next weeks Rosetta will complete the Steins observation campaign and start the reconfiguration of the various spacecraft subsystems for intermediate Sun distances. The reconfiguration will be completed in March before the entry in Near Sun Hibernation Mode. The second leg of the post-Earth Swing-by trajectory correction is planned for 21 February 2008.