P R E S S R E L E A S E
DEEP SPACE DEEP SLEEP
Waking a sleeping spacecraft to hitch a ride on a comet!
St. Asaph, UK, February 04, 2014- It is going to be an anxious time for the men and women involved in the Rosetta mission in 2014. Landing a craft on a moving comet is a hard enough task in its self. But first having to wake that craft after it has been in deep sleep hibernation for nearly three years doesn’t make the job any easier.
In January, they will attempt to bring the Rosetta spacecraft back online so it can journey towards Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, once there it will make the most detailed study of a comet ever attempted.
One thing they don’t have to worry about is the coverglass components supplied by Qioptiq. With well over 40 years of supplying these components, specifically for the space industry, our heritage proves our reliability.
Qioptiq Coverglass is manufactured from ultra-thin ribbons of glass produced at the Qioptiq facility in Bodelwyddan, North Wales (UK). “We are one of the only facilities in the world producing this type of glass specifically for the space industry, supplying almost 80% of the worlds’ satellites” a spokesman said.
This is a long standing ESA program for which, between 1998 and 2001, Qioptiq supplied CMG 100 coverglass. The glass is conductor coated and is 100 micron thick, as thin as a human hair. Yet these coverglasses are so robust they can be bent double without braking. They are used, in their hundreds, to cover the photovoltaic cells that provide the satellite with its power and protect them from the harsh extremes of space. Rosetta relies solely on solar cells for power generation. The two 14 metre long solar panels allow the craft to operate with only 4% of the sunlight levels on Earth.
The International Rosetta Mission was approved in November 1993 and was launched on 2 March 2004 via an Ariane-5 G+ launch vehicle from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou. It gets its name from the famous Rosetta stone that led to the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphics.
After travelling many millions of kilometres the Esa craft entered deep space hibernation in June 2011. It has an internal alarm clock that will wake the craft up on 20th January 2014 at 10:00 GMT, so it can continue its mission to rendezvous with Comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko in May 2014. Named after its 1969 discoverers Klim Churyumov and Svetlana Gerasimenko, and referred to as a "Jupiter class" comet, it takes 6.45 years to orbit the Sun.
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Rosetta will be the first mission ever to orbit a comet’s nucleus and land a probe on its surface. In November 2014, If all goes to plan, the 100kg Philae lander will touch down on the comet and anchor itself to the surface with two harpoons. Studying the comet’s dust and gas will help scientists learn more about the role of these primitive comets in the evolution of the Solar System.
But it is a risky manoeuvre that has never before been attempted. If the mission is successful, the robot will take samples and record images as the comet makes its closest approach to the Sun in 2015.
Esa has launched a social media campaign to build excitement around 20th January wake up date. It is calling on people to make a video clip of themselves and friends shouting "Wake up, Rosetta!". You can be sure Qioptiq will be joining in.
About Qioptiq:
Qioptiq, an Excelitas Technologies Company, designs and manufactures photonic products and solutions that serve a wide range of markets and applications in the areas of medical and life sciences, industrial manufacturing, defense and aerospace, and research and development. Qioptiq benefits from having integrated the knowledge and experience of Avimo, Gsänger, LINOS, Optem, Pilkington, Point Source, Rodenstock, Spindler & Hoyer and others. In October 2013, Qioptiq was acquired by Excelitas Technologies Corp., a global technology leader focused on delivering innovative, customized solutions to meet the lighting, detection and other high-performance technology needs of OEM customers. The combined companies have approximately 5,000 employees in North America, Europe and Asia, serving customers across the world. Visit and for more information.