Posted on 09/22/2014 2:42:04 PM PDT by BenLurkin
When traveling to far off lands, one packs carefully. What you carry must be comprehensive but not so much that it is a burden. And once you arrive, you must be prepared to do something extraordinary to make the long journey worthwhile.
The previous Universe Today article “How do you land on a Comet?” described Philae’s landing technique on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. But what will the lander do once it arrives and gets settled in its new surroundings? As Henry David Thoreau said, “It is not worthwhile to go around the world to count the cats in Zanzibar.” So it is with the Rosetta lander Philae. With the stage set – a landing site chosen and landing date of November 11th, the Philae lander is equipped with a carefully thought-out set of scientific instruments. Comprehensive and compact, Philae is a like a Swiss Army knife of tools to undertake the first on-site (in-situ) examination of a comet.
Now, consider the scientific instruments on Philae which were selected about 15 years ago. Just like any good traveler, budgets had to be set which functioned as constraints on the instrument selection that could be packed and carried along on the journey. There was a maximum weight, maximum volume, and power. The final mass of Philae is 100 kg (220 lbs). Its volume is 1 × 1 × 0.8 meters (3.3 × 3.3 × 2.6 ft) about the size of a four burner oven-range. However, Philae must function on a small amount of stored energy upon arrival: 1000 Watt-Hours (equivalent of a 100 watt bulb running for 10 hours). Once that power is drained, it will produce a maximum of 8 watts of electricity from Solar panels to be stored in a 130 Watt-Hour battery.
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Please repost link.
According to the NASA Eyes on the solar system program, Rosetta is currently 16.5 miles away from the comet traveling at a relative speed of 0.4 mph.
Does this have to be operated by a trained PhilaeLanderer ?
Thank you
I wonder if it can find all the gubmint money we’ve spent looking at comets ?
I see the LGBT community was in on the design, with the blue AIDS detection module. You see it’s not promiscuous SEX, it’s COMETS that have wrought our society with this ‘racist’ disease.
No, that the ADS module.
Though it is mostly loaded with Cialis and Viagra commercials
Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap.
The adverts say that Cialas does not protect you from that.
What’s for lunch on Rosetta? A Philae steak and cheese.
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