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Philae's Batteries Have Drained; Comet Lander Sleeps

Posted by timothy on from the amazing-feats-done-dirt-dirt-cheap dept.

astroengine (1577233) writes "In the final hours, Philae's science team hurried to squeeze as much science out of the small lander as possible. But the deep sleep was inevitable, Rosetta's lander has slipped into hibernation after running its batteries dry. This may be the end of Philae's short and trailblazing mission on the surface of Comet 67P, but a huge amount of data — including data from a drilling operation that, apparently, was carried out despite concerns that Philae wasn't positioned correctly — was streamed to Rosetta mission control. "Prior to falling silent, the lander was able to transmit all science data gathered during the First Science Sequence," said Stephan Ulamec, Philae Lander Manager. "This machine performed magnificently under tough conditions, and we can be fully proud of the incredible scientific success Philae has delivered.""

14 of 337 comments (clear)

  1. ShirtStorm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think we're all more interested in the shirt drama than any of this science stuff!

    1. Re:ShirtStorm by weilawei · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Holy shiitake. How could anyone possibly imagine that might be okay in a professional context? Wear it at home or to the beach... but that ain't a work shirt.

    2. Re:ShirtStorm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      He's a scientist who can land a robot on a comet 10 years and 500 million kilometers away (well, it's a team effort, but anyway.) His girlfriend made him this shirt for his birthday. He gets to wear his lucky shirt on the day of the landing, capiche? There are still places where doing a good job is more important than looking the part, whatever that means. Need I remind you that the "computer people" didn't/don't look very reputable to business folk either?

    3. Re:ShirtStorm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      He's a scientist with a doctorate in physics. How shallow do you have to be to make a grown man cry and apologize for wearing a shirt that his girlfriend made for him? You fucking bastards! If you could do half as much science in your politically correct, dress-code compliant uniform as that man, you'd realize how destructive your comments about his appearance are. But you wouldn't spend years of your life working to design science experiments in obscurity. Otherwise you wouldn't put someone down on the day all that work comes to fruition. The people who take offense at that shirt are a disgrace to humanity. Get your priorities in order, embrace diversity and have some decency, for heaven's sake. Don't shit on a someone's work because of the way they dress! You'd think of all people geeks would understand the concept.

  2. Re:Who cares about the lander? by Beck_Neard · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I had to google "shirtstorm" to see what you're talking about... holy shit there is no hope left for society

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    A fool and his hard drive are soon parted.
  3. "Yeah, but fuck science... by Rinikusu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because the scientists wear shirts featuring pin-up girls!"

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    If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
  4. Re:Who cares about the lander? by dbIII · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Google suggests SJW is "social justice warrior" which is apparently used as an insult.
    Why do I have to learn this shit to follow things on a technical site instead of some far side of crazy teabagger site shoving politics in our faces?

  5. Sad by nmb3000 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When you stop and think about the fact that the Rosetta project was launched over ten years ago (something I didn't realize until recently), it's hard not to feel sorry for the scientists and others on the project.

    The statements the ESA is putting out have a positive spin on them (for multiple reasons, I'm sure), but at the end of the day this has got to be a pretty hard blow to the people personally invested in the project. After the effort required just to get it launched and a decade of waiting, it must be hard on them. Wish them the best of luck for a second chance when the comet nears the Sun.

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    "What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
    /)
    1. Re:Sad by steelfood · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes and no. On one hand, it wasn't the perfect landing. On the other hand, they waited 10 years for a successful landing. And it happened. That's gotta count for something.

      Remember that ESA probe to Mars that died when it got there? These guys could've waited 10 years to find out that their probe crashed into the comet, or overshot it, or some other calamity befell the lander rendering it inoperative.

      Instead, they did their science, got their data, and have a chance at doing a bit more in the future. That they couldn't do more is unfortunate, but there's a reason they demarcated certain tasks as primary and put enough juice into the thing to complete all of them.

      The probability of abject failure was much higher than the probability of any success, even if imperfect. The fact that this was a partial success, and I would argue it's mostly a success, is worth something.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
  6. Fair-weather power sources are lame... by KonoWatakushi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    After all the trouble and expense of sending a probe or lander out into the unknown, it seems a waste not to provide them with an RTG for reliable power. Solar panels have hobbled Mars rovers as well as other spacecraft.

    1. Re:Fair-weather power sources are lame... by itzly · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Given a fixed budget, what part of the mission would you have taken out to replace with an RTG ?

    2. Re:Fair-weather power sources are lame... by Yoda222 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You cannot really blame ESA to not take into account Mars rovers solar panel problems. I think it's very difficult to take problems which happens after the launch of a spaceprobe during the design of this probe. Maybe ESA should hire some fortune teller?

  7. Re:Who cares about the lander? by epyT-R · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Since when is it bigoted for a guy to announce that he likes attractive women? Gay pride activists have whole fucking parades devoted to their preferences, and are always announcing it to the world.

  8. Re:Who cares about the lander? by ctid · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Most people can think about more than one thing at a time. So in my head at the moment we have: It's an amazing achievement for the ESA and the team and for humanity at large. AND putting on that shirt was a bit thoughtless if he knew he was going to be on TV. AND if he didn't know he'd be asked to talk on TV and his bosses made him do it, that was a bit stupid on their part. AND if the TV people picked him to be on TV because of his shirt, that was pretty dickish of them.

    See? You can think of more than one thing at a time and none of the other thing detract from the defining achievement of the mission. Unless you're a piss-baby who thinks your world is being ruined by SJWs. Then you can only keep one thing in your head at a time I guess.

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    Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room