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Rosetta spacecraft pulls alongside comet - landing on comet in November

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I

Incognito

Troll
Amazing. Space, man, and everything that goes with it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/07/s...ck&contentCollection=Home Page&pgtype=article

After 10 years and a journey of four billion miles, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft arrived at its destination on Wednesday for the first extended, close examination of a comet.

A six-minute thruster firing beginning at 5 a.m. Eastern time, the last in a series of 10 over the past few months, slowed Rosetta to the pace of a person walking, about two miles per hour relative to the speed of its target, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenk.

Over the coming months, Rosetta and its comet, called C-G for short, will plunge together toward the sun. In November, a small 220-pound lander is to leave the spacecraft, set down on the comet and harpoon itself to the surface.

That will be the first time a spacecraft has gently landed on a comet. “It’s really going to get down and scratch the surface to get the most pristine material that we can from the surface of the comet,” said Matthew Taylor, the mission’s project scientist.

At this point, the comet and its shadowing spacecraft are more than 330 million miles from the sun (more than three times as far out as Earth), traveling at 35,000 miles per hour. With the firing of the final thruster, Rosetta was a mere 60 miles from the comet’s surface.
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Detailed graphics and more info at link. And yes, there was a thread about Rosetta already created but it's 40 replies with 35 of them being filled with Duck gifs.

The 2.5 mile wide comet...

07comet-cnd-master675.jpg
 
C

CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls

Banned
My brain hurts just simply thinking about the logistics of this operation.

Ten years traveling through space in order to land directly on a comet that is infinitesimal in size. Collect comet samples with the hope that the shuttle can make it off the comet before getting roasted by the sun.

I can't even...
 
jufonuk

jufonuk

not tag worthy
if only we would devote as much time ,effort & money to more of these kind of ventures, then we do to trying to kill each other, :(
 
B

Bo Knows GAF

Member
jufonuk said:
if only we would devote as much time and effort to more of these kind of ventures, then we do to trying to kill each other, :(
Click to expand...

Maybe it'll find some sweet resource which will drive up compitetion to obtain said resource. That would get the space program rolling
 
M

Mupod

Member
Bo Knows GAF said:
Maybe it'll find some sweet resource which will drive up compitetion to obtain said resource. That would get the space program rolling
Click to expand...

if video games have taught me anything, it's that finding a sweet resource like that would also lead to us trying to kill each other. Except with awesome space tanks instead.
 
M

MJLord

Member
Mupod said:
if video games have taught me anything, it's that finding a sweet resource like that would also lead to us trying to kill each other. Except with awesome space tanks instead.
Click to expand...

But then we have the technology to survive in space. That means we can just leave them to it xD
 
S

StudioTan

Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
Amazing.
 
G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
This is badass. They must feel like kids on Christmas day. Waiting 10 plus years for this moment. Hopefully everything goes right.
 
R

RedShift

Member
Titles probably a bit misleading, the landing happens in November, not quite imminent. At the moment it's just manoeuvring into a stable orbit.
 
W

Woorloog

Banned
META said:
My brain hurts just simply thinking about the logistics of this operation.

Ten years traveling through space in order to land directly on a comet that is infinitesimal in size. Collect comet samples with the hope that the shuttle can make it off the comet before getting roasted by the sun.

I can't even...
Click to expand...

Play some Kerbal Space Program. Plan your own.

Anyway. That travel time. It is pretty much "free", ain't it? Hohmann transfer orbits are funny that way. Just very slow.
At least i assume it used a Hohmann transfer orbit mostly.
Reckon i need to read about the probe a bit...

EDIT no, wait, did this use the Interplanetary Transport Network? Ah, well, whatever it i used, it takes time.
 
S

Saganator

Member
After playing Kerbal Space Program, I can really appreciate and be impressed by how they put the craft next to the asteroid. Can't wait for more updates on Rosetta.
 
W

Woorloog

Banned
Saganator said:
After playing Kerbal Space Program, I can really appreciate and be impressed by how they put the craft next to the asteroid. Can't wait for more updates on Rosetta.
Click to expand...

Reading about the probe, it seems there was an event that could be called "Kerbal". The flew through Mars' shadow, on batteries, something it wasn't designed for. "Billion Euro Gamble".
 
O

Orayn

Member
META said:
My brain hurts just simply thinking about the logistics of this operation.

Ten years traveling through space in order to land directly on a comet that is infinitesimal in size. Collect comet samples with the hope that the shuttle can make it off the comet before getting roasted by the sun.

I can't even...
Click to expand...

The good news is that a lot of this stuff moves in very predictable ways since orbital mechanics are just an extension of the basic laws of motion in a big vacuum with relatively few massive bodies floating around in it. Don't get me wrong, they're still threading the eye of a needle at thousands of kilometers per hour, but it helps when the needle and thread both move in very predictable ways and all the action takes place on time-scales long enough to make corrections if needed.

As other people have said, playing Kerbal Space Program gives you a new appreciation for these things.
 
L

LNBL

Member
This is awesome, just saw it on the news. It has been travelling for 10 years and it finally arrived.
 
R

RedShift

Member
The landing is happening tomorrow, pretty exciting. I really hope it all goes to plan.

Apparently it should be known whether the landing was a success about 4PM GMT, so late morning in the US, late afternoon in Europe. We could soon have the first pictures taken from the surface of a comet.

If anyone wants to get hyped up see this slightly odd sci-fi short film/visual effects tech demo 'Ambition' made in cooperation with the ESA about the mission, starring Aiden Gillen a.k.a. Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish a.k.a. dude who would shoot a man before throwing him out of a plane.
 
T

Tehalemi

Member
So they've passed their next Go/NoGo with a "Go", with an hour delay for next time around I think to make sure the spacecraft is ok.

Sweet. :D
 
E

eudaemonic

Member
I am PUMPED!

Also excited because sunspot AR2192 is coming back around. I'm super curious to see if it has gotten bigger. Glad AR2205 has been quieter since facing us too.
 
F

fallout

Member
Go/NoGo 3 is a Go!

B2NURZCCEAA12qE.jpg:large


The earliest Go/NoGo 4 (which is the Final Go/NoGo for separation) decision happens at:

t1415774100z0.png


The separation is scheduled for:

t1415782800z0.png


The landing will occur about 7 hours after that.
 
D

derFeef

Member
1 hour!!

Separation will occur in space at 08:35 GMT / 09:35 CET, but it will take the radio signals from the transmitter on Rosetta 28 minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth and be transferred to the Rosetta Mission Control Centre at ESA’s Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.

That means we must wait until about 09:03 GMT / 10:03 CET for confirmation the separation has happened correctly.
Click to expand...
 
Melon Husk

Melon Husk

Member
Xkcd is "livestreaming" for the bandwidth-challenged.
Edit 1: The top-mounted stabilizing cold-gas nitrogen thruster has failed. They'll have to land without it. Better not bounce back!
 
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