Posted on 11/15/2014 3:06:17 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Explanation: The Rosetta Mission lander is safely on a comet. One of Philae's feet appears at the bottom left of this spectacular image of the surface of C67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Still a happy lander, Philae bounced twice before settling and returning images from the surface, traveling a kilometer or so after initially touching at the targeted site Agilkia. A surface panorama suggests that the lander has come to rest tilted and near a shadowing wall, with its solar panels getting less illumination that hoped. Philae's science instruments are working as planned and data is being relayed during communications windows, when the Rosetta spacecraft is above the lander's new horizon.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA]
That’s one huge rock. Would have been neat if they did it on Hally’s comet.
The Halley’s rendezvous thirty years ago was pretty good for its time, and resulted in good data about the composition of the tail. The biggest proof of concept for the 4 billion mile trip the Rosetta probe has taken was probably the Clementine mission to map the lunar surface; it took a low-energy, manana kind of trip to get there.
I see a Chinese flag.
I see Mount Gandalf.
I’ve always been intrigued with comets, which is why this landing has me doing summersaults.
Color me inquisitive.
:’)
Yeah, that was bemusing. If he’d had naked men bangin’ each other, no one would have said anything.
“I’ve always been intrigued with comets, which is why this landing has me doing summersaults.”
Just like the landing.
It sounds like it has a really hard bouncy surface.
Maybe the ice is like a superball.
Tilted? Who’s to know?
Not a braided steel cable. Look again. It's rebar.
It was only later on Saturday that they admitted this photograph is a PHOTOSHOPPED composite of what they THINK the lander might look like if they knew where it was! Good Grief!
Then they are claiming the auger bore is 14" drilling into the surface of the comet. . . but they don't know if they are going to have enough power to send the data the lander is collecting back to Rosetta to relay to Earth! They were not even able to TETHER the lander to the comet yet they are now telling us they have the ability to force a drill into the surface? How can they do that without anchoring the lander? The harpoons failed, the ice anchor drills in the landing pads failed, and the cold thrusters failed. . . yet they can drill 14 inches into the regolith with limited power?
Granting them that ability, if they are going to need power to transmit their findings, why not limit the depth of their drilling to only 7" so that they can husband the limited power they have left? Then they just MIGHT have enough battery power left over to send the data back home! Something smells and it isn't just the comet! It strikes me that there are a lot of rocket scientists there and someone should have thought of these things. . .
Color you right! This is a damnable Photoshop job of what it WOULD look like if the Rosetta team knew WHERE Philae really is. . . but they don't. So they faked up this picture.
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