Posted on 11/13/2014 5:49:54 AM PST by C19fan
Scientists face a desperate race against time after it was confirmed that the Rosetta probe Philae is stuck on its side on comet 67P with two legs on the ground and one stuck in the air. In a press conference Esa has revealed they aren't quite sure where Philae is on the surface but it is thought to have either fallen into a cave or next to a cliff in darkness based on images returned from the surface. With limited access to sunlight, and only a maximum of 30 hours of charge in its battery, European scientists must now attempt to obtain useful data from the probe before it dies - or find a way to recharge its solar panels and keep Philae alive. The probe landed yesterday at around 3.30pm GMT and bounced twice before it settled in its current location, just over half a mile from its target destination. And Esa said that the probe had access to just 90 minutes of sunlight every 12 hours - which was enough to partially recharge its secondary battery once its primary battery runs out of power in about 30 hours.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Yes, I agree that just getting there, even getting the probe on the surface intact and functional is an amazing accomplishment. I am well aware that launching probes and having them function properly in space (a very hostile environment), and at great distances from Earth, is difficult. I’m just saying that this is a pretty significant failure. And yes, also a success to some extent.
Not to mention 10 years in space... A long time for equipment to survive, and for dormant equipment like thrusters and harpoons to work on cue.
Muzzies couldn't shoot a roman candle even if they were standing in a campfire.
http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/11/11/top-ten-rosetta-images-from-10km/
The probe is on the comet, taking pictures, gathering solar energy, operating probes & analyzers, and communicating regularly with the orbiter & Earth. All less so than intended, but still way better than outright crashing or bouncing off & away.
For starters, a man made probe traveled approximately 4 billion miles and landed on a comet.
Roughly the equivalent of hitting a speck of dust with a BB gun from a distance of 10 miles.
We’ve got some pretty spectacular things going on in space too.
We’ll be getting our first look at Pluto in July. The Dawn probe visited Vesta for several months and is now approaching Ceres. The Juno craft is on its way to Jupiter.
Ridiculous headline, but thanks C19fan, and extra to APoD.
It did not fall into a cave ... it was dragged in ...
Indeed. Many have quickly forgotten about NASA’s recent and current missions which are pacesetters.
“.... Philae is stuck on its side on comet 67P with two legs on the ground and one stuck in the air.”
Journalists.
You guys that attended Infantry Officers Candidate School in the 60’s will get this.
“I’m a dying, one legged female cockroach” LOL
Those were just a few that haven’t even reached their objectives. There are dozens more ongoing missions that have been astounding successes.
Cassini has been orbiting Saturn for better than a decade (not to mention the Huygens landing on Titan). The Mercury Messenger mission has a decade under its belt. We have at least 2 Rovers operating on the surface of Mars and other orbiters overhead.
Bump.
It appears to be a design flaw to me. Why attempt a perfect three-point landing on a circus tent? Why not just allow for adjustment regardless of the terrain, etc?
I can fix it...is it near the flag?
LOL!!
They should have brought a flashlight.
Or the harpoon fired and instead of digging in, it bounced off causing the probe to tip over. Also known as a “Wolowitz”.
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