Rosetta's comet mission discussion thread

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the Rosetta mission, specifically focusing on the landing of the Philae lander on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Participants explore various aspects of the mission, including the selection of landing sites, the challenges of landing on a low-gravity surface, and the anticipated scientific outcomes of the mission.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Experimental/applied

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants discuss the details of the Rosetta mission, including its objectives and the technology involved in landing on a comet.
  • There is interest in the criteria used for selecting the landing sites, with some participants expressing curiosity about the specific factors considered beyond surface level.
  • Participants share links to resources detailing the pros and cons of the five potential landing sites, with some expressing preferences for specific sites based on their features.
  • Concerns are raised regarding the landing challenges due to the comet's low gravity and the need for the lander to secure itself effectively upon landing.
  • Some participants note the excitement surrounding the mission, highlighting its significance as a first attempt to land on a comet and the potential for new scientific insights.
  • There is mention of the failure of a critical thruster, leading to discussions about alternative anchoring methods that may be necessary for a successful landing.
  • Live updates and social media interactions related to the mission are shared, indicating a high level of engagement and anticipation among participants.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of excitement and concern regarding the landing, with some agreeing on the challenges posed by the comet's surface while others speculate on the implications of the thruster failure. Overall, multiple competing views and uncertainties remain regarding the landing process and its outcomes.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved questions about the nature of the comet's surface and the effectiveness of different anchoring methods. The discussion reflects a range of assumptions about the landing site's characteristics and the mission's technological capabilities.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in space exploration, cometary science, and the technical challenges of landing on low-gravity celestial bodies may find this discussion engaging and informative.

  • #61
Dotini said:
A friend on another forum informs me it's on the surface, but moving around some.

It's a Rover! :)
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
  • #62
This so cool. :)
- Oops OK, looking at the news again!
 
  • #64
The latest that I am seeing from the ESA site is the notice of touchdown by the Philae probe. Is there anything more recent information available?
 
  • #65
It's hard to find anything other than some unofficial speculation about Philae having bounced when it landed.But that aside, I think that it may be possible to get some good estimates of how the comet's gravitational field varies. The Rosetta team has released a 3D model of the comet, Measuring comet 67P/C-G | Rosetta - ESA's comet chaser, and one can use a voxelizer like "binvox" on it to find a voxel representation of it. A voxel is a 3D pixel. One can then calculate the comet's gravity by assuming something like constant density then integrating over the voxels found for it.

http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~min/binvox/ is open source, but I've had trouble getting it to work in OSX Yosemite, the latest version. Even compiling it has trouble.

From Rosetta's motions, the Rosetta team has likely calculated some of the multipole coefficients of the comet's gravitational field. But I haven't seen them published anywhere.
 
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  • #66
SciFi channel said they picked site J. Not sure but I think it's on top of the large lobe.
 
  • #67
Emily Lakdawalla, Senior Editor & Planetary Evangelist, The Planetary Society. Planetary scientist, writer, public speaker,
is in Darmstadt Germany making reports via Twitter also.
I don't think she sleeps.

IMG_0359_pp_square_normal.jpg
Emily Lakdawalla @elakdawalla · 7h
! ... ! ... ! RT @Philae_ROMAP: @Philae_ROMAP magnetic field analysis revealed 3 landings at 15:33, 17:26 and 17:33 UTC

IMG_0359_pp_square_normal.jpg
Emily Lakdawalla @elakdawalla · 11h
I seem to have picked up >5000 new followers today :O Welcome, all of you, and I hope you like planetary exploration and space photos.​

One of them was me.

I was just listening to a BBC broadcast recorded yesterday following the landing. One of the commentators said that the landing itself was an experiment. ~9:45 - 10:15.
At 44 minutes, it's a bit long, but they discussed a lot of interesting things, with a lot of excited scientists.
 
  • #68
Greg Bernhardt said:
Google changed their logo doodle to a Rosetta animation
they rushed
 
  • #69
I've not yet seen a photograph taken from the landing site...
 
  • #71
  • #72
A rock has never looked this interesting.
 
  • #73
If the photo from the surface, linked above, has any resemblance to what a human eye would perceive it appears as might be expected at such great distance that the amount of sunlight is akin to something like Full Moon at night on Earth. As small as the lander is the surface area of photovoltaic cells is even smaller. ESA has stated they are already collecting electrical energy. Are these some sort of high performance cells? or is the unit designed with extreme! low power requirements... or both?
 
  • #74
enorbet said:
If the photo from the surface, linked above, has any resemblance to what a human eye would perceive it appears as might be expected at such great distance that the amount of sunlight is akin to something like Full Moon at night on Earth. As small as the lander is the surface area of photovoltaic cells is even smaller. ESA has stated they are already collecting electrical energy. Are these some sort of high performance cells? or is the unit designed with extreme! low power requirements... or both?
Here's a paper on the solar cells aboard Rosetta and Philae, which have a reported ~20% efficiency.
http://www.astrodynamics.eu/Astrodynamics.eu/Conference_Papers_files/Topputo-Paper-2009-2.pdf
 
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  • #75
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30034060#

Evidently Philae bounced a kilometer up off the surface and remained in flight for almost two hours as the comet rotated under it. So they are still trying to determine its exact location. The harpoons and ice screws still aren't deployed, so drilling experiments are canceled for the moment since it is untethered and too unstable. In the photo, you see a foot with an ice screw pointed "up", I suppose.

About the surface, I've seen a comment about what appeared to be a gooey or melted look, maybe toward the lower right in magnification. But mainly it looks like rocks to me.

http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/...omet/15048351-1-eng-GB/Welcome_to_a_comet.jpg
 
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  • #76
At 0.4 grams centimeter^-3 average density, rock stretches credulity. And a micro-G makes down on its side a good question.
 
  • #77
Yes, the presser just announced that Philae's location on 67P is still unknown, "Maybe tomorrow."

Solar arrays are "not illuminated" so power duration is limited.
 
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  • #80
Jonathan Scott said:
Given that it apparently bounced and that the momentum flywheel was being spun down, I hope that any "final" landing will be the right way up. I'd have thought a shape like that would only have a small chance of landing on its feet if it started tumbling.

Seems I was unfortunately right in my guess yesterday. Not only is it on its side, but it is also in shade a lot of the time, so the batteries are unlikely to last for long.

I don't know how much capability they have to move stuff, but they might be able to "twitch" it at least back to a more vertical position, as it would require very little force.
 
  • #82
  • #83
I believe that the battery has 60 hours capacity. Where is the suggestion that Philae is "on its side", that is its normal force outside the area of its feet? The question of a "twitch" was asked at the presser, and I took the answer as not having that capability. The possibility of approaching escape velocity inadvertently is real and of concern.
 
  • #84
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2014/11/First_comet_panoramic

As mentioned in this afternoon's press conference, one of the panorama pictures is almost entirely sky and one to the side of it appears to be some sort of overhanging cliffs from the sun angle (you need to turn up brightness to see them) and a lander leg apparently pointing upwards. The pictures in the opposite direction are apparently of a surface close to the camera, presumably underneath the lander.

I don't think the lander has any official capability to do anything which would help it right itself, but I think there are bits which can be rotated or extended which might be used as a last resort.
 
  • #86
EU2AA said:
Yes, the comet is not going anywhere. But we are talking about Philae ...

Yeah. I meant Philae. Was feeling sleepy.
 
  • #89
Scroll down. One can see the lens flare OmCheeto mentioned. Probably just a guess as to the orientation.
this is the link Doug Huffman gave a few posts back.
.
Comet_panoramic_lander_orientation.jpg
 
  • #90
The top left corner needs brightening to see anything. They showed on the presentation today that if it's lightened up, one can see what appear to be overhanging cliffs.
 

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