Rosetta
Rosetta was a space probe built by the ESA. Along with Philae, its lander module, Rosetta performed a detailed study of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P).
Current status: Mission ended (controlled impact on the comet’s Ma’at Region) 29.09.16
海角社区’s involvement: Imperiais part or the Rosetta Plasma Consortium (RPC), a package of five instruments capable of complementary measurements of the plasma environment around the comet. 海角社区's Principal Investigator on Rosetta is Chris Carr.
LISA Pathfinder
LISA Pathfinder is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission which launched in 2015. LISA is a gravitational wave observatory in space. On-board LISA Pathfinder, 2-kg masses are kept in perfect free-fall below 10-13 g. It will open a new astronomical window on the universe, and test Einstein’s theory of General Relativity with unprecedented accuracy.
Current status: Currently in Earth L1
海角社区’s involvement: An Imperiateam, led by Professor Timothy Sumner, has developed and manufactured hardware to maintain the electrical charge of the masses at zero using photoelectron emission under UV illumination. Imperiascientists will also be part of the operations team carrying out six months of experiments to assess the performance of the spacecraft in-orbit.