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Thread: Space Post - Rosetta comet chaser / Philae lander

  1. #31
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    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

  2. #32
    Walking Dead Legion2213's Avatar
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    Harpoons dug in, screw anchors deep in the surface...Earth Probe Philae has landed!

    Can't wait to see some actual pictures of this courageous little machine on the surface!

    Epic job by all involved...you guys rock!
    Last edited by Legion2213; 12-Nov-2014 at 03:19 PM. Reason: .
    Oblivion gallops closer, favoring the spur, sparing the rein - I think we will be gone soon

  3. #33
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    Total, utter, wow!
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

  4. #34
    Ipsissimus Kaos's Avatar
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    Fantastic job, ESA!

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    Saw them talking about it on CNN last night, though this thread is where I get most of my info on the particulars as they happen, lol.
    Also saw oodles of awesome pics from a link on Yahoo news.
    Beautiful stuff to behold, nothing like lassoing a comet...

  6. #36
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    Hmm, initial reports of a perfect touch down seem to have been scotched, some of the ESA guys are saying it may have landed up to three times and generally bounced 100's of metres around the surface a bit!

    Latest reports say that it has "stabilised" but it is not attached by the harpoons...no word on the screws that should hold it in place either...it could just be siting there without and anchors at all!

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30034060

    Still an amazing achievement what ever the outcome, we need to send more of these things out there, just ones with back-up harpoons and stuff!
    Oblivion gallops closer, favoring the spur, sparing the rein - I think we will be gone soon

  7. #37
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    Pretty amazing stuff really! Hope it all works out well and we get to see more of the comet
    Get that damn screwdriver out of my head!

  8. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by Legion2213 View Post
    Hmm, initial reports of a perfect touch down seem to have been scotched, some of the ESA guys are saying it may have landed up to three times and generally bounced 100's of metres around the surface a bit!

    Latest reports say that it has "stabilised" but it is not attached by the harpoons...no word on the screws that should hold it in place either...it could just be siting there without and anchors at all!

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30034060

    Still an amazing achievement what ever the outcome, we need to send more of these things out there, just ones with back-up harpoons and stuff!
    If it's not attached then it's being held in place my nothing more than micro gravity!

    I wonder what that means as regards the sample based experiments. ie: If you dig down, you could simply push the craft up! And in a few months when this thing is close to the Sun and the comet becomes "active"?

    - - - Updated - - -

    UPDATE

    The spacecraft is in perfect operational order but engineers from the European Space Agency (ESA) have confirmed that it is “almost vertical” with “one foot in the open air”.

    “This has an impact on our energy budget,” said one scientist. “The lander is relying on solar energy [and] we’re getting one and half hours of sunlight when we expected six or seven.”

    Philae has enough power in its batteries to last for around sixty hours of operation, but scientists are hoping they might be able to move the craft to a more favourable position using the landing gear.

    However, there's a danger than any movements will only dislodge the lander from the surface or even tip it onto its back.
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...l-9858872.html
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

  9. #39
    Walking Dead Legion2213's Avatar
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    Looks like it's all over.

    Still, it was an amazing escapade...we need to do it again!

    Maybe time to start allowing small nuclear batteries into space if we really want to explore without relying on solar batteries.
    Oblivion gallops closer, favoring the spur, sparing the rein - I think we will be gone soon

  10. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by Legion2213 View Post
    Looks like it's all over.

    Still, it was an amazing escapade...we need to do it again!

    Maybe time to start allowing small nuclear batteries into space if we really want to explore without relying on solar batteries.
    It could come back online again in a few months - Fingers crossed!

    - - - Updated - - -

    WOW!

    These incredible images show the breathtaking journey of Rosetta’s Philae lander as it approached and then rebounded from its first touchdown on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on 12 November 2014.

    The mosaic comprises a series of images captured by Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera over a 30 minute period spanning the first touchdown. The time of each of image is marked on the corresponding insets and is in GMT. A comparison of the touchdown area shortly before and after first contact with the surface is also provided.

    The images were taken with Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera when the spacecraft was 17.5 km from the comet centre, or roughly 15.5 km from the surface. They have a resolution of 28 cm/pixel and the enlarged insets are 17 x 17 m.

    From left to right, the images show Philae descending towards and across the comet before touchdown. The image taken after touchdown, at 15:43 GMT, confirms that the lander was moving east, as first suggested by the data returned by the CONSERT experiment, and at a speed of about 0.5 m/s.

    The final location of Philae is still not known, but after touching down and bouncing again at 17:25 GMT, it reached there at 17:32 GMT. The imaging team is confident that combining the CONSERT ranging data with OSIRIS and navcam images from the orbiter and images from near the surface and on it from Philae’s ROLIS and CIVA cameras will soon reveal the lander’s whereabouts.

    The insets are provided separately via the blog: OSIRIS spots Philae drifting across the comet:
    http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2014/11...oss-the-comet/

    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

  11. #41
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    Still some hope the lander might come back to life again - http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/12/23...f-it-wakes-up/
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

  12. #42
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    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

  13. #43
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    They've started trying to communicate with the lander again - http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/03/13...-comet-lander/

    If it fails now, they'll try again in April.
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

  14. #44
    Webmaster Neil's Avatar
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    WOW! - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-en...e=news_central

    The European Space Agency (Esa) says its comet lander, Philae, has woken up and contacted Earth.
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

  15. #45
    Webmaster Neil's Avatar
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    They've actually located the lander - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37276221




    ...so on Sep 30th the orbiter is going to crash/land...
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

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