DocM Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Congrats to ESA - a great job of space navigation over 10.5 years (!!) to catch up to this thing. Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko appears to be a composite object; two cometary bodoes that collided and fused. This should be fun. http://www.spacenews.com/article/civil-space/41506europe%E2%80%99s-comet-hunting-rosetta-probe-reaches-%E2%80%9Cscientific-disneyland%E2%80%9D Europe?s Comet-hunting Rosetta Probe Reaches ?Scientific Disneyland? PONTE VEDRA, Florida ? Europe?s Rosetta comet-chaser satellite on Aug. 6 arrived at its destination ? a comet some 405 million kilometers from Earth ? and began returning surprising images and data as it begins an 18-month in-depth study of the comet on annual approach toward the sun. Nearly 10.5 years after its launch and more than six months after it was reawakened following a 31-month hibernation, Rosetta closed to its planned 100-kilometer distance from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and immediately began to send images and data from inside the still-modest gas and dust cloud being thrown off by the comet. It took the 20-nation European Space Agency?s Esoc space operations center in Darmstadt, Germany, several hours to process the images sent by the 35-kilogram, 4-megapixel OSIRIS camera. The data flow was no more than 70 kilobits per second over 405 million kilometers. Early assessments: Comet 67P, measuring three by five kilometers, is spewing out water vapor at a rate of about one-third of a liter ? two glasses ? per second. This rate will increase 100 to 1,000 times as the comet approaches the sun. The first images taken from the 100-kilometer distance had a 2.5-meter resolution and showed what Holger Sierks, principal investigator for the satellite?s Osiris camera, called a ?village of boulders,? some as large as houses ? plus 100-meter-tall cliffs and a gorge between the two main bodies of what ESA officials variously described as two potatoes stuck together, or a rubber duck. ?For 10 years we?ve been in the car on the way to scientific Disneyland,? said Mark McCaughrean, senior science adviser in ESA?s science directorate. ?We?re there. We?ve arrived. Look out the window and see.? > > Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beittil Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Great, now I am imagining a control room filled with screaming scientists wearing Mickey Mouse hats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatingFatMan Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Great, now I am imagining a control room filled with screaming scientists wearing Mickey Mouse hats! And popping champagne bottles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudslag Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Size of the comet in comparison Ice_Blue and simplezz 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Scientific Disneyland, Candyland, and Toys 'R' Us all rolled into one object. Lovely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted September 2, 2014 Author Share Posted September 2, 2014 Here's another size comparison: Comet 67P v Los Angeles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGeorge Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Looks like an earless dog looking upward and saying "Boo!". ...Whats that mental disease where you see patterns where none exist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 I know everyone is cheering about the Rosetta lander touching down, but they've delayed the next presser, the cold gas thruster failed and the harpoon system didn't fire. It may be in more trouble than they're admitting to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simplezz Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 If you rotate it counter-clockwise 90?, it would look like a bath rubber duck ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacer Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 I know everyone is cheering about the Rosetta lander touching down, but they've delayed the next presser, the cold gas thruster failed and the harpoon system didn't fire. It may be in more trouble than they're admitting to. That's unfortunate. Hopefully it's not a fatal failure. Is anyone going to watch the Science Channel's Rosetta special that's on tonight at 9 PM EST? I'm looking forward to it, but I'm curious how up to date it's going to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 Sounds like it bounced and they think it landed again. There was also a signal loss. ESA's updates leave a bit to be desired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 Multiple bounces.... https://twitter.com/elakdawalla/status/532678187239493632 Emily Lakdawalla ?@elakdawalla !!!! ........... !!! ... !! RT @Philae_ROMAP: @Philae_ROMAP magnetic field analysis revealed 3 landings at 15:33, 17:26 and 17:33 UTC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Maybe they'll finally figure out the Sun is generating 'comets'. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 LATEST NEWS. Philae bounced and actually landed twice, nearly bouncing back into space. The ice screws have also not activated and Philae has slipped down a slope but remained upright. Also concern that the solar arrays may not be generating sufficient power, and batteries have a 50 hour charge time without recharging. Whilst the landing 'worked' it looks like that all is not going well right now. There will be more news later when Rosetta re-establishes contact with Philae as the Rosetta spacecraft has set from Philae's position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beittil Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Philae Lander ?@Philae2014 32m 32 minutes ago Hello! An update on life on #67P - Yesterday was exhausting! I actually performed 3 landings,15:33, 17:26 & 17:33 UTC. Stay tuned for more Looks to me like they really need to try and fix that anchoring issue :P But so far it seems like Philae is still on the comit. More news at 13:00UTC today. (Little less that 3 hours from time of posting this!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alwaysonacoffebreak Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Well, compared to something else, *cough*, it actually got into space. 10 years ago or not.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2014/11/15/our-landers-asleep/ Our Lander's asleep With its batteries depleted and not enough sunlight available to recharge, Philae has fallen into 'idle mode' for a potentially long silence. In this mode, all instruments and most systems on board are shut down. "Prior to falling silent, the lander was able to transmit all science data gathered during the First Science Sequence," says DLR's Stephan Ulamec, Lander Manager, who was in the Main Control Room at ESOC tonight. "This machine performed magnificently under tough conditions, and we can be fully proud of the incredible scientific success Philae has delivered." Contact was lost at 00:36 UTC / 01:36 CET, not long before the scheduled communication loss that would have happened anyway as Rosetta orbited below the horizon. From now on, no contact would be possible unless sufficient sunlight falls on the solar panels to generate enough power to wake it up. The possibility that this may happen was boosted this evening when mission controllers sent commands to rotate the lander's main body, to which the solar panels are fixed. This may have exposed more panel area to sunlight. The next possible communication slot begins on 15 November at about 10:00 UTC / 11:00 CET. The orbiter will listen for a signal, and will continue doing so when its orbit enables communication visibility in the future. The hugely successful Rosetta mission will continue, as the spacecraft tracks comet 67P/C-G on its journey to the Sun. Rosetta is the first spacecraft to rendezvous with and orbit a comet and has already returned incredible scientific data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luc2k Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Mah Patriarchy!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 Probably should have had an NSFW tag, but yeah (y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatingFatMan Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 My mother in law, a rather strict Methodist minister, doesn't see any problem with that shirt at all, and all the people kicking off about it are idiots. Like in that video above, the only thing she thinks inappropriate is wearing it at a press interview for such an important event, but the shirt itself? Just fine, if a little ugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 26, 2014 Author Share Posted November 26, 2014 The comets coma is forming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreadDriox Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Its about time they went through with it. They where talking about it long enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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