Slashdot Mirror
Mission to Harpoon Comet is Back on Track
An anonymous reader writes "The Rosetta mission planners have announced today that after an indefinite launch delay earlier this year, their goal of landing on a comet is back on track. Their new baseline target is a rendezvous with the comet, Churyumov-Gerasimenko, in November 2014. En route to the comet, Rosetta will inspect two asteroids (Otawara and Siwa) at close quarters."
... and send the comet crashing into the earth, Lori Petty will rescue Naomi Watts, and they will fight against Malcolm McDowell and save us all from Water and Power!
I think I need to turn off the TV and go outside now...
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
You're off by one digit; if you aim for a comet 1 billion miles away, you're going to miss it by 100,000 miles.
Plus, it's not that simple. You have to decide if you're using standard feet (.3048 meter) or U.S. survey feet (0.3048006096012 meter). You might still miss the comet by 600 miles.
Yes. Centripetal force. The Earth is constantly changing direction (as it orbits), which means its velocity (speed with direction) is constantly changing. Change in velocity / time = acceleration. The direction of acceleraton is towards the sun.
"Rosetta will inspect two asteroids (Otawara and Siwa) at close quarters."
It's about time that us humans started doing the probing to the aliens!
Your favorite