Posted on 06/13/2015 8:05:18 AM PDT by BenLurkin
It’s only a bright dot in a landscape of crenulated rocks, but the Rosetta team thinks it might be Philae, the little comet lander lost since November.
The Rosetta and Philae teams have worked tirelessly to search for the lander, piecing together clues of its location after a series of unfortunate events during its planned landing on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko last November 12.
...
Rosetta’s navigation and high-resolution cameras identified the first landing site and also took several pictures of Philae as it traveled above the comet before coming down for a final landing. Magnetic field measurements taken by an instrument on the lander itself also helped establish its location and orientation during flight and touchdown. The lander is thought to be in rough terrain perched up against a cliff and mostly in shadow.
High resolution images of the possible landing zone were taken by Rosetta back in December when it was about 11 miles (18 km) from the comet’s surface. At this distance, the OSIRIS narrow-angle camera has a resolution of 13.4 inches (34 cm) per pixel. The body of Philae is just 39 inches (1-meter) across, while its three thin legs extend out by up to 4.6 feet (1.4-meters) from its center. In other words, Philae’s just a few pixels across — a tiny target but within reach of the camera’s eye.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
Of course I know that person wouldn't live very long, but still, just to ride on the comet, look up at the stars, and surf the Internet all day long????
:-)
Of course I know that person wouldn’t live very long, but still, just to ride on the comet, look up at the stars, and surf the Internet all day long????
Those roaming charges on your data plan are going to be a bear.
thanks to the radio lag, page loads would be a bitch.
Guess I’ll have to be sure I get on webpages that are text-oriented, like this one!
;’D Be sure to take along a bunch of digital movie copies, food, water, and, uh, air.
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