Fantastic Space Voyage Rosetta is at the Comet

[blueash]

All you space junkies pay attention. The Rosetta spacecraft which was launched in 2004, 10 years ago will finally reach its target overnight tonight. This amazing craft has circled the sun many times, cutting inside and being gravitationally flung outside our orbit, travelling now 6.4 billion km and now only 100 miles from rendezvous with a comet. Here is a link to see the flight path of Rosetta

Where is Rosetta? (http://sci.esa.int/where_is_rosetta/)

and here is a photo taken yesterday as it nears its objective

Rosetta: 234 kilometers and closing! (http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/08/05/rosetta_234_km_and_closing.html)

The craft will close orbit the comet and travel with it around the sun. It will also in November attempt to place a lander on the comet and drill into the rock to analyze and learn. It will be at its target for two years

Rosetta overview / Space Science / Our Activities / ESA (http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta_overview)

The insertion in comet orbit will be broadcast on the ESA website beginning at 4 AM EDT

[kittygilchrist]

Thank you! I just discovered this information yesterday cruising NASA's website....

[nicoletta]

we have to look outward .. to see within

what exactly is on the outside of infinity?

crash into the wall thump!

thank you for posting ... excellent material
been a long wait to see this

[blueash]

we have to look outward .. to see within

what exactly is on the outside of infinity?

crash into the wall thump!

thank you for posting ... excellent material
been a long wait to see this


Reality may just be a Mobius strip. No inside, no outside; no worries about any thumping

[blueash]

Rosetta UPdate:

The spacecraft has been stationed near the comet for three months. Now the plan is for separation of a landing module which is to be placed on the rocky surface of the comet. This is phenomenal.

On Nov 12th (Wednesday) at 3:35 AM the lander will separate from the orbiting craft and very slowly fall "down" to the comet at about 2 MPH. The lander has no steering thrusters. Once at the surface it screws itself in and harpoons will fire to attach to the rock. http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Videos/2014/09/Philae_s_descent_and_science_on_the_surface

For a 90 minutes briefing full of information: suggest starting at 15:30 time stamp

Briefing: Rosetta science and countdown to comet landing - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBQ2svD0Zqw&feature=youtu.be)

It will take 7 hours for the lander to travel about 18 miles for touchdown. Landing is expected about 10:30 AM. However as it takes 28 minutes for radio signals to reach earth from the craft, it will be 11 AM before confirmation of success could be received. The lander will have several important experiments to conduct over its lifespan which is limited by battery life. The batteries are expected to work for about 65 hrs. There will be an attempt to solar charge for further use but at best it will take 2 days of charging to get one hour of use. There is dust on the surface and if it is disturbed by the lander and settles on the solar panels, no recharge will happen. Keep in mind this was built using technology from 2003. As the comet is moving toward the sun, the surface of the comet and lander is expected to become too hot for survival. The orbiting craft will survive hopefully as the comet goes around the sun with perihelion (closest to sun) on Aug 15 2015 then several more months of data collection with mission ending at the end of the year.

Here is rosetta's main webpage

Rosetta | rendezvous with a comet (http://rosetta.esa.int/)

[Bogie Shooter]

Thanks for the update. Amazing!

[blueash]

Rosetta Update:

The lander has separated from Rosetta. Perhaps a brief mention of names. Rosetta Stone, before it was a software product, is the artifact found in the late 1700's in Egypt that provided that first clues for being able to translate hieroglyphics into modern language. It has upon it the same (almost) information in hieroglyphics and Greek. So using the Greek it was possible to gain understanding of meanings of the glyphs. The space probe it is hoped will be a key in understanding origins of life, the solar system, many mysteries. Thus Rosetta for the main probe.

A few hours ago a small lander was released from Rosetta. It is named Philae which is the location in Egypt where a second artifact, an inscribed obelisk, was found which added additional information for translation. And the site on the comet which is the target of today's landing is Agilkia. The original Philae temple on an island in the Nile was flooded by the building of the Aswan dam. In preparation for this flooding the temple was moved to a safe alternative island, Agilkia. So Philae moved to Agilkia. Today the Philae lander is moving to its new home, Agilkia.

The lander is scheduled to touch down in an hour. There are already amazing pictures. Rosetta has produced images of Philae as it moves away.
https://twitter.com/ESA_Rosetta/status/532547063607984128/photo/1
Philae has produced images of Rosetta.
https://twitter.com/ESA_Rosetta/status/532537918557265921/photo/1

You can watch the action with a continuous press briefing online at
Rosetta | rendezvous with a comet (http://rosetta.esa.int/)

If your cable provider has NASA channel, they are producing their own programming, on Comcast channel 271

10:30 AM the NASA channel is now carrying the ESA feed live

[Madelaine Amee]

Great information Blueash, thanks. I found my NASA channel and just watched the three international cosmonauts return from the 5 1/2+ months in space, landing in Kazakhstan!

[blueash]

2:30 Update
ESA just had their end of the day update. The lander successfully landed on the comet, however, the harpoons that were to anchor the lander to the surface did not deploy. They are analyzing data but it is possible that the lander may have bounced off the surface and is now no longer on the comet. Or not. Sadly they will not be getting good additional data until tomorrow and there is nothing to be done. Should this be the end of the lander mission, it still was amazing. Fingers crossed that tomorrow has good news.

[BobnBev]

Who's paying for all this? There's still thousands of kids going to bed hungry tonight.:shrug:

[Shimpy]

Who's paying for all this? There's still thousands of kids going to bed hungry tonight.:shrug:

Take it up with the Europeans since it is their mission. Before retiring as a machinist, I worked for one of the U.S. companies that made parts for that mission and remember working on alot of it about 10 years ago I believe.