Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

ESA Still Searching For Philae; May Have Zeroed In On a Possible Location

Posted by timothy on from the little-dots dept.

hypnosec writes with the news that the European Space Agency may have located the agency's Philae lander. The official Rosetta blog says Fortunately, it was possible to narrow down the lander’s final location by using the radio signals sent between Philae and Rosetta as part of the CONSERT experiment after the final touchdown. Combining data on the signal travel time between the two spacecraft with the known trajectory of Rosetta and the current best shape model for the comet, the CONSERT team have been able to establish the location of Philae to within an ellipse roughly 16 x 160 metres in size, just outside the rim of the Hatmehit depression. That means just a few candidates for Philae's current location, based on imaging performed by Rosetta's OSIRIS camera.

9 of 21 comments (clear)

  1. I have an exact location :p by youn · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It's on the fricking comet. At this point, what difference does it make where it is exactly?

    --
    Never antropomorphize computers, they do not like that :p
    1. Re:I have an exact location :p by JohnStock · · Score: 2

      Wild guess.. You don't work in the space industry do you?

    2. Re:I have an exact location :p by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 4, Informative

      Knowing the exact location would be important in determining whether it will get sunlight - and therefore revive - as the comet draws closer to perihelion.

    3. Re:I have an exact location :p by behrooz0az · · Score: 1

      ikr, They have to know if they're going to keep their jobs, and if so for how long.

      --
      Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion. -- Spazmania (174582)
    4. Re:I have an exact location :p by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

      Beyond the things already mentioned, maybe to verify again if our intellectual ability to predict complex events from measurements actually works?

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    5. Re:I have an exact location :p by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Knowing the exact location would be important in determining whether it will get sunlight - and therefore revive - as the comet draws closer to perihelion.

      Quite important apparently - as it has just done exactly that.

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33126885

    6. Re:I have an exact location :p by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The first thing any geologist will tell you is that if you have a rock removed from its context, any tests you do are worth a lot less. The lander did all sorts of tests. Knowing the exact location will allow the context to be determined, and allow extrapolation from that point to the rest of the comet surface if it has similar terrain and spectral characteristics. Without the location, you don't really know what you've sampled.

    7. Re:I have an exact location :p by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Why assume it's a hostile question? I work in the space industry (on Mars, not comets, and not in planetary geology although that's where I work) and had the same question. I'd bet my life that I know more about space than you will your whole life. It's infantile hostility like yours that makes me dislike the internet more and more and I've been on the internet since usenet started. Back then, of course, you had to be moderately intelligent. Now they let anyone in

  2. Alive, and reporting back to Mother Earth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33126885