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Europe's Rosetta Spacecraft Makes Historic Arrival at Comet
www.space.com ^ | August 06, 2014 06:00am ET | By Miriam Kramer, Staff Writer

Posted on 08/06/2014 9:37:08 AM PDT by Red Badger

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To: Red Badger

4 billion miles...

I hope it brings back nice souvenirs.


41 posted on 08/06/2014 11:36:58 AM PDT by Dead Corpse (Tri nornar eg bir. Binde til rota...)
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To: JRandomFreeper

My thought too...

“Goody. All that cash to photograph a chunk of clinker...”


42 posted on 08/06/2014 11:40:38 AM PDT by Dead Corpse (Tri nornar eg bir. Binde til rota...)
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To: Dallas59

At least the spacecraft wasn’t named “Capricorn I.”


43 posted on 08/06/2014 11:43:55 AM PDT by Night Hides Not (Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Remember Mississippi!)
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To: Darksheare
We have the technology to capture it.


44 posted on 08/06/2014 11:45:42 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows ("Your Daddy Was Drunk and Your Mama Was Lonely" - http://youtu.be/4HYy62qiOwA)
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To: GeronL
I doubt it has any gravity, how does one “enter orbit”?

It has mass. . . it has gravity. Very, very little, itty-bitty gravity, but it has gravity. About the level of gravity that Obama now has with our allies.

45 posted on 08/06/2014 11:47:17 AM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Swordmaker

That is pretty small


46 posted on 08/06/2014 11:51:37 AM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: Slings and Arrows

Ceiling cat will help us!


47 posted on 08/06/2014 11:55:19 AM PDT by Darksheare (I don't have a copy. one's free..... Even robots will kill for it!)
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To: Dead Corpse

At least it was euros and not real money.

/johnny


48 posted on 08/06/2014 11:59:50 AM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: Dead Corpse

49 posted on 08/06/2014 12:18:49 PM PDT by Red Badger (If you compromise with evil, you just get more evil..........................)
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To: NoCmpromiz

Consider it done, LOL.


50 posted on 08/06/2014 12:25:07 PM PDT by moose07 (the truth will out ,one day. Doggies Rock.)
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To: Red Badger

LOL...


51 posted on 08/06/2014 12:32:50 PM PDT by Dead Corpse (Tri nornar eg bir. Binde til rota...)
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To: Red Badger
We're at the comet! Yes!" exclaimed Sylvain Lodiot, Rosetta's spacecraft operations manager, once the probe's successful arrival at Comet 67P/C-G was confirmed.

I watched the . . . Thrilling (NOT) . . . approach last night. I want my two hours back. It was two hours of talking head dignitaries pre-congratulating themselves, thanking everyone, including the "Lord Mayor" of the town, and 1950s level animation of a gray and white Sponge Bob like character riding a "Rosetta Space Probe" jumping up and down, crying "Are we there yet?"

One female spokeswoman waxed breathless about how this would inspire the children to study math and science. I thought it was more likely to cause them to take up bus driving. It would be more eventful and exciting.

At one point, they focused the camera on a digital countdown clock with 12 seconds left, saying the maneuver is about to begin. When it reached zero, "The maneuver has begun. In 22 minutes, we'll know if it worked." At NO time did they explain what the maneuver was to do, show an animation of said maneuver, or tell anyone why they needed to do it. Instead, they cut, without explanation, to a years old video of the awakening of Rosetta, which consisted of people staring at a wave form on a screen that suddenly showed a blip!, and the people exploded into cheers. After 22 minutes of talking to people in front of laptops and computer screens about not much, one of them announces "The maneuver worked." CHEERS.

More talking heads. . . more replaying of the same bad SpongeBob animation. Finally as ennui sets in, one guy in charge of the imaging shows some blurry images of the comet. . . taken months ago. . . after talking about how exciting it was to get a "single pixel image of the comet, then a two pixel, the a 22 pixel moving pixel that they could construct this image from!" And showed a pixelated dumbbell. Whee!

FINALLY, as I was nodding off from sheer boredom, At 2:31 AM Pacific time, as the MC was interviewing another personage, she says "I want to hear you say it!" To which the response is:

"We're at the comet! Yes!" exclaimed Sylvain Lodiot, Rosetta's spacecraft operations manager, once the probe's successful arrival at Comet 67P/C-G was confirmed.

"Look. People are cheering and hugging over there!" Said the bubbly MC.

"Well, now that Rosetta has arrived, the real work can start. . . "

No animation, no pictures, no explanation of how close an orbit. . . No science. More talking heads. I went to bed to dream of a career in bus driving.

52 posted on 08/06/2014 12:35:37 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Darksheare; MaxMax

If that is the size of the rubber duck.....how big is the loofah?


53 posted on 08/06/2014 12:39:51 PM PDT by moose07 (the truth will out ,one day. Doggies Rock.)
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To: moose07; MaxMax

Big enough to wipe man off about a fifth of the world!
/ end bug eyed speculation.

Disappointed though.
Just checked the antfarm [bpearthwatch] and didn’t see any paranoid rants about this space mission or this particular comet.
*pouts*


54 posted on 08/06/2014 12:42:13 PM PDT by Darksheare (I don't have a copy. one's free..... Even robots will kill for it!)
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To: Darksheare

Give it time. bpearthwatch is like a bottle of expensive Red Wine, or a big cheese.... [TA]
. These things take time to mature.


55 posted on 08/06/2014 12:48:17 PM PDT by moose07 (the truth will out ,one day. Doggies Rock.)
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To: moose07

Misread that as “These things take time to manure.”


56 posted on 08/06/2014 1:13:24 PM PDT by Darksheare (I don't have a copy. one's free..... Even robots will kill for it!)
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To: Darksheare

LOL, that works too...


57 posted on 08/06/2014 1:19:15 PM PDT by moose07 (the truth will out ,one day. Doggies Rock.)
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To: Swordmaker

Science isn’t always exciting to the outside observer. Sometimes it’s just boring as hell........................


58 posted on 08/06/2014 1:21:52 PM PDT by Red Badger (If you compromise with evil, you just get more evil..........................)
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To: MaxMax

http://news.msn.com/offbeat/face-on-comet-67p-spotted-by-rosetta-spacecraft-photo


59 posted on 08/06/2014 2:19:14 PM PDT by airborne (My heroes don't wear capes - My heroes wear dog tags!)
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To: airborne; MaxMax; moose07

Looks like Han Solo in carbonite.


60 posted on 08/06/2014 2:36:53 PM PDT by Darksheare (I don't have a copy. one's free..... Even robots will kill for it!)
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