Attitude reconstruction of ROSETTA׳s Lander PHILAE using two-point magnetic field observations by ROMAP and RPC-MAG

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As part of the European Space Agency׳s ROSETTA Mission the Lander PHILAE touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on November 12, 2014. The magnetic field has been measured onboard the orbiter and the lander. The orbiter׳s tri-axial fluxgate magnetometer RPC-MAG is one of five sensors of the ROSETTA Plasma Consortium. The lander is also equipped with a tri-axial fluxgate magnetometer as part of the ROSETTA Lander Magnetometer and Plasma-Monitor package (ROMAP). This unique setup makes a two point measurement between the two spacecrafts in a relatively small distance of less than 50km possible. Both magnetometers were switched on during the entire descent, the initial touchdown, the bouncing between the touchdowns and after the final touchdown. We describe a method for attitude determination by correlating magnetic low-frequency waves, which was tested under different conditions and finally used to reconstruct PHILAE׳s attitude during descent and after landing. In these cases the attitude could be determined with an accuracy of better than ±5°. These results were essential not only for PHILAE operations planning but also for the analysis of the obtained scientific data, because nominal sources for this information, like solar panel currents and camera pictures could not provide sufficient information due to the unexpected landing position.