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To: zeestephen
Gravity of 67P is estimated to be less than one one-hundred-thousandth that of Earth (< 1E-5 g), so one might expect a landing to be troubled.
5 posted on 11/13/2014 5:30:40 AM PST by Steely Tom (Thank you for self-censoring.)
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To: Steely Tom
The harpoon and opposing thrusters were supposed to solve the gravity issue, but they failed.

The lander was actually within 50 meters of the planned landing sight.

The most recent photos indicate the lander’s cameras can't see the horizon, which means it is badly tilted, and possibly hovering slightly above the surface.

The lander also had a stabilizing flywheel for the descent.

That may still be spinning and rotating the lander’s antennae because their communications are intermittent.

7 posted on 11/13/2014 10:20:55 AM PST by zeestephen
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