More than 2000 Rosetta NavCam images for your enjoyment

Last week, the European Space Agency released the first set of images from Rosetta's navigational camera, or NavCam, from the phase of the mission that followed the Philae landing. That makes more than 3500 NavCam images that have been released from the comet phase of the mission. I haven't seen many people playing with the data from these image releases; I hope that people will take a break from refreshing the New Horizons image website to go check out the Rosetta NavCam data, because there's a lot of it, and every comet image contains wonders.

I posted about the NavCam releases covering the approach to the comet back in April. Since then, they have also released images taken during its close mapping phase in October and the Philae landing in November. The latest release includes data taken while Rosetta was using its OSIRIS camera to search for the missing lander in December. As just one example of the kinds of images you can make from these data, here is an unusual view of the comet as a thin crescent taken while Rosetta was on its "night excursion" around the comet back in September.

The release of the NavCam data does serve as a reminder that there has not yet been any public release of data from any of Rosetta's science instruments since arrival at the comet. The first science data release was supposed to happen six months following the landing, in late May, and it did not. I'm not at all surprised by this, but I would love to know when the science teams do plan on sharing their data. We'll just have to wait and see.

Thank goodness for NavCam; it provides a treasure trove of images. Here are visual summaries of all the images that have been released since my last post on the archived NavCam data. The data releases are divided into planning periods. First, the images from Medium Term Plan 8, or September 23 to October 24, 2014. A timeline for this phase, from this Rosetta blog entry:

• September 10, 2014: Global mapping at 30 km
• September 24, 2014: Night excursion
• September 29, 2014: Close observations at 20 km
• October 10, 2014: Close observations at 10 km

Next, the images from Medium Term Plan 9, or October 24 to November 21, 2014. Lander delivery happened on November 12. It's fun to scan this set of images; it's not hard to recognize when the lander delivery and flyby happened! A timeline for this phase, from this Rosetta blog entry:

• October 15, 2014: 10 km orbit
• October 31, 2014: Pre-delivery orbit
• November 12, 2014: Philae separation followed by relay phase maneuver 1
• November 14, 2014: Relay phase maneuver 2
• November 16, 2014: Relay phase maneuver 3
• November 19, 2014: 30 km orbit (Dedicated OSIRIS Philae search campaign)

Finally, the images from Medium Term Plan 10, or November 22 to December 19, 2014. A timeline for this phase, from this Rosetta blog entry:

• November 19, 2014: 30 km orbit (Dedicated OSIRIS Philae search campaign)
• December 3, 2014: Transfer to 20 km orbit
• December 6, 2014: 20 km orbit (Dedicated OSIRIS Philae search campaign)

After this phase, Rosetta went on to perform two close flybys of the comet, which will make for really exciting images. I'm pasting in the upcoming timeline for those events here, in preparation for the next Rosetta Navcam image release, developed from three ESA blog entries: "Rosetta in 2015", "Close flyby navigation issues," and "New Trajectories for Rosetta."

• January 1-February 3: 30 km orbit
• February 4, 2015: 26 km; begin transfer to 140 km to prepare for close flyby
• February 7, 2015: 142 km
• February 11, 2015: 101 km
• February 14, 2015: 48 km
• February 14, 2015: 6 km
• February 17, 2015: 253 km
• February 25, 2015: 76 km
• February 28, 2015: 110 km
• March 28, 2015: 16 km; safe mode triggers escape trajectory
• April 1, 2015: 200 km
• April 1, 2015: 400 km
• April 8, 2015: 140 km, shifting to terminator orbit, then targeting 100 km pyramid trajectory, of which there will be 3 by end of April

I'm not sure when the next release will be, but it's going to be awesome!