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Rosetta Spacecraft Prepares To Land On Comet, Solve Lingering Mysteries (sciencemag.org)

Posted by BeauHD on from the end-is-near dept.

sciencehabit writes from a report via Science Magazine: All good things must come to an end, and so it will be tomorrow when the Rosetta spacecraft makes its planned soft landing onto the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the culmination of 2 years of close-up studies. Solar power has waned as 67P's orbit takes it and Rosetta farther from the sun, and so the mission team decided to go on a last data-gathering descent before the lights go out. This last data grab is a bonus after a mission that is already changing theorists' views about how comets and planets arose early in the solar system. Several Rosetta observations suggest that comets form not from jolting mergers of larger cometesimals, meters to kilometers across, but rather from the gentle coalescence of clouds of pebbles. And the detection of a single, feather-light, millimeter-sized particle -- preserved since the birth of the solar system -- should further the view of a quiet birth. The report concludes: "A slew of instruments will keep gathering data as Rosetta approaches the surface at the speed of a gentle stroll. For team members whose instruments have already been turned off to conserve power, the ending is bittersweet -- but their work is far from over. Most instrument teams have only examined their own data, and are just now thinking about combining data sets. "We've just started collaborating with other teams," [Holger Sierks of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Gottingen, Germany, chief of Rosetta's main camera,] says. "This is the beginning of the story, not the end."

20 of 40 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds like Rosetta's journey... by SeaFox · · Score: 1

    is reaching its tail end. /duck

    1. Re:Sounds like Rosetta's journey... by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 2

      It's a surprise, but EU engineers are so good that Rosetta will actually bounce on the comet and reach back Earth in a couple years.

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  2. Livestream URL by vikingpower · · Score: 5, Informative

    For anyone interested, ESA broadcasts a livestream of the event here.

    --
    Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
    1. Re:Livestream URL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Adobe Flash Player v10.1 or above is required for you to watch this video.

      So thanks, but no, thanks.

    2. Re:Livestream URL by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Space exploration is no spectator sport. It's a bit like hacking. Why do you think Hollywood has the urge to spice it up with bullshit?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Livestream URL by skastrik · · Score: 1

      At the end of http://livestream.com/ESA/rose... (1:14:00) they show the very final close-up images, 5 metres above ground.

    4. Re:Livestream URL by sid+crimson · · Score: 1

      Tune in with a mobile device - Livestream supports mobile without Flash.

    5. Re:Livestream URL by PPH · · Score: 2

      Adobe Flash Player v10.1 or above is required for you to watch this video.

      So, more than one crash today.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  3. Go ESA by Zoxed · · Score: 4, Informative

    Congratulations to all involved in this mission over the 20+ years: and: better to crash than fade away :-)

  4. 8 minutes to go by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    At 0430 MST, Rosetta is returning higher and higher res pictures of its impact site.

    1. Re:8 minutes to go by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Edit: 0415.

    2. Re:8 minutes to go by MrKaos · · Score: 2

      Looks like they've done it! Congrats ESA!

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    3. Re:8 minutes to go by O-Deka-K · · Score: 1

      Did we hit the comet hard enough to deflect it away from Earth?
      Today's xkcd: http://www.xkcd.com/1740/

  5. Last images now coming in by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    Lots of fine detail at the impact site now being shown on the live feed.

  6. 6+ years by cmiller173 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The orbital period of the comet is only 6.44 years. Would it be possible to wake up either Rosetta or Philae when it swings by again?

    1. Re:6+ years by bobbied · · Score: 2

      Unlikely. Deep space is extremely cold, too cold for the electronics, especially the batteries, to survive unless kept warm. Best we can hope for is to go back and take a look on the return trip and see how the two devices did physically.

      --
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    2. Re:6+ years by tomhath · · Score: 2

      A rendezvous with a comet is very difficult and expensive. Not much chance of anyone bothering for a few centuries.

    3. Re:6+ years by DanielRavenNest · · Score: 1

      No. The high gain antenna (dish) is not pointable now that it's attached to the comet, and may have been damaged on landing. Ditto for the solar arrays.

  7. Am I the only one by a_claudiu · · Score: 1

    Noticising the NASA tag in the article related to ESA?

  8. Re:Sorry, but wrong logo, wrong tag by PPH · · Score: 1

    Not Another Space Administration?

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.