Posted on 11/13/2014 2:43:12 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Explanation: Yesterday, the first soft landing on a comet took place some 500 million kilometers from planet Earth as the Rosetta mission lander Philae settled on the nucleus of C67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The landing site, dubbed Agilkia, is located near the center of this remarkable image snapped by Philae's ROLIS (ROsetta Lander Imaging System) camera. Taken from a distance of about 3 kilometers the image has a resolution of about 3 meters per pixel at the surface. After Philae's release from the orbiter, its seven-hour long descent was made without propulsion or guidance. Following its descent the lander is in place, though its anchoring harpoon system did not fire. For 2.5 days the lander is intended to conduct its main science mission returning extensive images and data. An extended surface mission may be possible if sunlight and dust conditions allow solar panels to recharge Philae's battery.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS]
Next time they’ll have a lander that has a reaction control system and guidance system that can guide it down exactly where they want it to go.
I’m betting it’s made up primarily of rock and ice. lol
It already has the autonomy it needs — there’s a long radio lag to the rendezvous point — and it’s remarkable how well the craft recovered from the first harpoon failure.
:’)
It looks to me like it’s lying upside down in a ditch.
The other advantage to having what I suggested is the ability to hop all over it especially since the gravity is so low.
GOD THROWS ROCKS ..!!!!
Look it up .. it’s right there in the Bible ..!!
Looks kinda like snow swept mountains.
CC
You can laugh when you've found some ice.
And the thruster failure. And the spin of the rock. And the contradictory directions of the angles of repose all over the thing.
Remarkable isn't the half of it.
They did a nice job; they may yet get the probe out of the crater and get those solar panels into the sunlight. It traveled over 4 billion miles and hit a target 2.5 miles in diameter, nice shootin’.
There’s a big insect in “Starship Troopers” which does.
All they need to do on these landers is add a helium balloon to deploy to lift the craft upright when necessary ......
It was too bad they gutted the book to make the movie.
What is it that you expect a helium baloon to do in zero atmosphere and micro-gravity? It’s not going to be lighter than vacuum, so it isn’t going to provide any lift.
You would think, as cheap as they are, they would pack a skyhook.
The harpoon was a sort of skyhook, wasn’t it? I don’t know why they didn’t have a thruster. It wouldn’t have required much - just some compressed gas, maybe. Tried and true.
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