Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Rosetta: Battery will limit life of Philae comet lander (Houston, We Have NO Sunshine!!!)
BBC News ^ | 11/13/14 | Jonathan Amos

Posted on 11/13/2014 4:56:14 PM PST by NormsRevenge

After a historic but awkward comet landing, the robot probe Philae is now stable and sending pictures - but there are concerns about its battery life.

The lander bounced twice, initially about 1km back out into space, before settling in the shadow of a cliff, 1km from its intended target site.

It may now be problematic to get enough sunlight to charge its battery systems.

--

The key issue vexing controllers right now is the lighting conditions.

Philae is receiving about 1.5 hours of illumination during every 12-hour rotation of the comet.

This will be insufficient to top up its battery system once the primary charge it had on leaving Rosetta runs out. That was some 60-plus hours.

It means Philae is unlikely to be operating in its present state beyond Saturday.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Chit/Chat; Science
KEYWORDS: battery; churyumovgerasimenko; comet; comet67p; nasa; philae; rosetta
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-60 next last
To: The Antiyuppie

That’s what I’ve been reading.


21 posted on 11/13/2014 5:54:10 PM PST by Gamecock (USA, Ret. 27 years.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Talisker
Why is this photoshopped?

This is terra incognito, don't forget, so I don't think any such thing is obvious. It's a 1/10000 g environment, for starters. That whole area below the big rock has the same sort of blurry appearance.

I will agree these Euros are kind of a dodgy lot. Who besides me heard the big honcho announce, in the middle of the celebration, that the harpoon had fired and "recoiled" or something? I'm sure the technos new better, but just deferred to him.

22 posted on 11/13/2014 6:02:51 PM PST by dr_lew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

It’s weight with respect to the comet is about a gram, and it was designed apparently to utilize that tiny gravitational tug to land and sink grapples.


23 posted on 11/13/2014 6:05:29 PM PST by Axenolith (Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: NormsRevenge

PICTURES FROM THE COMET. BUT WHERE'S THE KABOOOM.

24 posted on 11/13/2014 6:06:02 PM PST by seawolf101
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: xp38

Nuclear power is the obvious solution for spacecraft ;solar panels are fragile and the inverse square law rapidly reduces available power as you get farther out.

Crazed non-scientific enviro-terrorists have cost us trillions of dollars and millions of lives made poorer or even cut short..


25 posted on 11/13/2014 6:06:54 PM PST by hoosierham (Freedom isn't free)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Axenolith

But generating enough “bounce” to take jump 1km and then having enough enough gravity exerted to come back down is something I can’t get my mind around.

Of course my degrees are focused more towards the life sciences, not physics.


26 posted on 11/13/2014 6:10:49 PM PST by Gamecock (USA, Ret. 27 years.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: NormsRevenge

With the limited gravity on that rock, it weighs less than an ounce.

220 lbs on earth, as is.

Ya, I think they lacked some imagination when it comes to contingency planning.


27 posted on 11/13/2014 6:13:26 PM PST by G Larry (Amnesty imposes SLAVE WAGES on LEGAL immigrants & minorities)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: hoosierham
If only this had been available


28 posted on 11/13/2014 6:13:44 PM PST by xp38
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: G Larry

Esa would have never been able to pull off a mars landing. The whole landing mechanism failed. Now i will give them stuff happens to mechanical systems a decade in space. Hitting the comet is not hard.


29 posted on 11/13/2014 6:23:25 PM PST by rlbedfor
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: xp38
Shoulda used nuke power rather than solar panels.

Probably wasn't politically correct.

30 posted on 11/13/2014 6:23:57 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: seawolf101
PICTURES FROM THE COMET. BUT WHERE'S THE KABOOOM.

OOOOH! The Q32 Explosive Space Modulator. like the Space Harpoons, has failed to operate!

31 posted on 11/13/2014 6:29:31 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: The Antiyuppie

I read somewhere today that firing the harpoons to bounce it to another location was something they were considering as a last resort. There apparently is another instrument — a scoop or something — that could be used in a similar way.


32 posted on 11/13/2014 6:33:16 PM PST by Yardstick
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: NormsRevenge
Heh. Big trouble in little Philae....shoulda consulted folks at Ford. GO USA!


33 posted on 11/13/2014 6:37:48 PM PST by Daffynition ("We Are Not Descended From Fearful Men")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rlbedfor

I’m trying not to be too critical at the moment.

We launch our Orion EFT-1 in 3 weeks.


34 posted on 11/13/2014 6:38:11 PM PST by G Larry (Amnesty imposes SLAVE WAGES on LEGAL immigrants & minorities)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Axenolith
It’s weight with respect to the comet is about a gram, and it was designed apparently to utilize that tiny gravitational tug to land and sink grapples.


One of these mounted on each foot with a radio controlled trigger (we could call the trigger a mouse), would be sufficient to jump the lander off the comet and let it relocate. After all on comets it's location, location, location.

35 posted on 11/13/2014 6:38:30 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Daffynition

Wasn’t the Ford Probe a Japanese Mazda?


36 posted on 11/13/2014 6:39:07 PM PST by nascarnation (Impeach, Convict, Deport)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: dr_lew
I will agree these Euros are kind of a dodgy lot. Who besides me heard the big honcho announce, in the middle of the celebration, that the harpoon had fired and "recoiled" or something? I'm sure the technos new better, but just deferred to him.

All of space science is dodgy as hell. Check this article out:

The Recurring Odd Shape Of Comets

37 posted on 11/13/2014 6:42:42 PM PST by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: dr_lew

One honcho at todays press briefing mentioned that the retractor reels activated even though the harpoon darts didn’t fire. Maybe he was trying to clarify what you heard him say yesterday? Keep in mind that they theorize that a comet is made of ice, so I am sure the harpoon anchors were designed to embed in ice. Suppose a comet is rock. I think that if you tried to fire ice-harpoons into solid rock you might just knock yourself a half-mile or so away from the comet. Should we be buying this half-mile high bounce explanation (from a meter per second speed on impact of an object weighing a gram)?


38 posted on 11/13/2014 7:00:33 PM PST by HandyDandy (Don't make-up stuff. It just wastes everybody's time.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: HandyDandy
(from a meter per second speed on impact of an object weighing a gram)?

The mass of the lander is given as 100 kg. At 10-4 g that is 10 gram-mass units of "weight" on earth. In a constant g-field of this strength, the height of a 1 m/sec launch is 1/2 g t2 = 1/2 v2 / g = 500 meters . It should have rebounded less than this, as the landing was "damped", but I think the 1 km value was supposed to be a lateral distance, so it's of the right order.

39 posted on 11/13/2014 7:20:42 PM PST by dr_lew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: Talisker

Could it be corrupted data or even a dirty lens?


40 posted on 11/13/2014 7:32:24 PM PST by Fire_on_High (RIP City of Heroes and Paragon Studios, victim of the Obamaconomy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-60 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson