Philae

[M'Kyuun]

Ever more, sci-fi is becoming sci-fact. The European Space Agency have successfully put the Philae lander on the surface of the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Comet after 10+ years of travel aboard the Rosetta spacecraft. It's an amazing accomplishment for them, and ultimately mankind, certainly worthy of discussion, as well as contemplation of what me might learn, and where the future lies for further exploration.

[Scyla]

At the moment they seem to have a problem with the ice the comet consists off. Apparently it is too soft for the spikes the Philae attaches itself to the comet. At the moment they are trying to solve this problem so they can start with the experiments.

I'm super exited though. Sadly almost no media coverage in my country for an event that is comparable with the Moon landing.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Apparently its anchoring harpoons failed to fire, so it isn't securely attached. Regardless, it is a monumental feat.

[Dynaman]

That is a pity, all the math and science involved in getting the probe to the asteroid and than having something like that go wrong. The calculations for getting two orbital bodies to "dock" is mind boggling.

[M'Kyuun]

I watched a special on the Science Channel where the scientists explained what needed to be done to just get the thing out there, and then the really mind-boggling calculations to slow it down and create a flight pattern around it so that they could map it. Then they had a panel with scientists vs engineers to determine where to set down. Bear in mind that once the lander was released from the satellite, it was in an unguided freefall, so they had to have their calculations perfect, and all environmental factors needed to be optimal for successful landing. It was such a longshot; the fact that they did it, mechanical issues notwithstanding, is a monumental achievement that really should have received more fanfare. Unfortunately, it's not fast paced or violent, and thus uninteresting to most people today, esp young people.

Too, I'd say that the realism we're used to in movies kind of ruins the excitement of these events as well; the cerebral side of it is really what's impressive and exciting. All I've seen of the actual landing was a still shot of the comet taken from 3M during freefall. Not very exciting stuff for today's crowd, esp Americans, for which everything needs to be moving a mile a minute to keep their ADD in check.

[reddsun1]

I must say I am a bit gobsmacked at the idea that an accomplishment this huge isn't receiving any more media or social attention than it is.

Your move, NASA...

Edited November 13, 2014 by reddsun1

[Dynaman]

I must say I am a bit gobsmacked at the idea that an accomplishment this huge isn't receiving any more media or social attention than it is.

Your move, NASA...

You can thank a world that thinks stalking celebrities is news for that.

[JB0]

I'm super exited though. Sadly almost no media coverage in my country for an event that is comparable with the Moon landing.

It's impressive, but I wouldn't say it's comparable to Apollo. Apollo put MEN on the moon, not a remote-control lander. And brought them back at the end of the mission. That's FAR harder, and it's why we celebrate Apollo 11 while Luna 9 is forgotten.

THAT SAID... that the lander managed a successful landing on effectively unknown terrain, with BOTH initial anchor mechanisms offline(top thruster to thrust down, harpoon gun to kill the whale tether the lander), ON AUTOPILOT(by necessity due to the several minutes of light lag) is VERY impressive. I mean not to belittle the ESA's efforts. Especially their coders, because that's an impressive little bundle of logic there.

Now let's put a man on that comet!111

(Actually, a manned mission to Ceres would be awesome. But let's get back to the Moon and get to Mars before we start raiding asteroids.)

[F-ZeroOne]

In the UK at least, this was the lead item on at least two of the main news programmes.

[Mr March]

It's amazing that we now have the technology to do this. Every step brings us closer to cool stuff like space mining, space habitats and all kinds of activities in space. So happy to see this.

[Scyla]

Sadly the Philae is tilted 90 degrees sideways and resting on the side instead of the landing struts. Now the solar panels don't produce enough energy to keep the experiments going after the main battery is drained from all its energy. So they try to get as much data from the comet as possible until the lander goes dead next Saturday. Also they won't be able to use the drill because Philae is not attached safely.

Bummer.

[mickyg]

Bummer indeed. I was really excited by the news so far. I'll be the team responsible for its performance thus far are absolutely gutted.

UPDATE:

I read some articles and it actually looks like they've got some options to move it enough to make recharging the batteries more viable. Looks like there's plenty to keep the guys busy for a while.

Edited November 13, 2014 by mickyg

[sketchley]

(...) It was such a longshot; the fact that they did it, mechanical issues notwithstanding, is a monumental achievement that really should have received more fanfare. Unfortunately, it's not fast paced or violent, and thus uninteresting to most people today, esp young people.

It made it onto the TV news story here in Japan, but I think they focused mostly on the "they landed" aspect, and not the rest of the mission - as some of adult students (50 to 70 years old) they were floored when I told them that the main probe has been flying for 10 years, and that it took that long to meet up with the comet, near the orbit of Jupiter.

I read some articles and it actually looks like they've got some options to move it enough to make recharging the batteries more viable. Looks like there's plenty to keep the guys busy for a while.

The last article I read on BBC last night before bed suggested the possibility of using the harpoon mechanisms to "launch" it from its current position, but they weren't even going to consider doing that until they knew more about Philae's current surroundings.

[F-ZeroOne]

I don't know the details, but I've been hearing that the harpoons firing mechanism involves... guncotton...!

Edited November 14, 2014 by F-ZeroOne

[JB0]

Sadly the Philae is tilted 90 degrees sideways and resting on the side instead of the landing struts. Now the solar panels don't produce enough energy to keep the experiments going after the main battery is drained from all its energy.

Also seems to be near a ridge facing the sun, which is casting a shadow across it.

Basically, it bounced from a nice landing spot to darn near a worst-case scenario.

[Knight26]

Don't give up on it yet, they will do everything they can to try and right the little guy, but in the meantime they will get as much science out if as they can just in case.

[reddsun1]

[JB0]

No he didn't. The spaceship landed itself, he just watched fifteen minutes later.

[Knight26]

Looks like Philae has gone silent, for now at least, there is hope that it might be able to recharge its powercells over the next couple months. At least it accomplished its primary missions before the batteries ran dry. I wonder if they will set Rosetta to try and find it now, if they know where it is better then they might be able to right it once power is restored.

[M'Kyuun]

That's a bit of a blow to the scientists, though, who were looking forward to mining as much data from it as possible, had it landed in an optimal area. I can only imagine the frustration, waiting 10 years, having it actually land in its projected spot, only to find out it had bounced into the most non-optimal spot where it can't get the sunlight it needs to fulfill the rest of its mission. It has to take an emotional toll on those folks, and I'm actually surprised they didn't try a last ditch to right it or even nudge it out of its current spot. I'd think it worth the gamble at this point. Worst case, it separates from the comet and is lost in space, as opposed to remaining in situ, dead.

[David Hingtgen]

I believe the best hope is long term---the comet is still heading towards the sun, and the amount of sunlight the probe gets will slowly but steadily grow. It may be enough at some point in the future to provide power.

[electric indigo]

Latest photos from Rosetta show the "footsteps" of Philae on the comet where it bounced off.

They say it got all planned experiments done before the power went down.

[Knight26]

DH is right, with the comet on an inbound trajectory Philae will get plenty of power in the coming months, best to wait it out, power it up and try and locate it in the mean time to see if it can be re positioned. If not, do what you can on the spot.

[M'Kyuun]

Well, that's good news indeed. I haven't looked at any news articles of late, so I'm out of the currency loop, except for what's posted here. I'm hopeful that they'll achieve some unprecedented science as the comet approaches the sun. To that end, patience is a virtue.

[sketchley]

I can only imagine the frustration, waiting 10 years, having it actually land in its projected spot, only to find out it had bounced into the most non-optimal spot where it can't get the sunlight it needs to fulfill the rest of its mission. It has to take an emotional toll on those folks,

Agreed.

and I'm actually surprised they didn't try a last ditch to right it or even nudge it out of its current spot. I'd think it worth the gamble at this point.

In a way they did - when they deployed the drill. However, without knowing exactly where it is (finding it being one of the current focuses of the overall mission), they apparently decided to not try other higher risk things that could make it jump.

The mission scientist even think its lying almost on its side! No point in really trying to make it move if all it's going to do is ram headfirst into a cliff face, after all.

Nevertheless, until it gets more sunlight (= power), reactivates from standby mode, and they reestablish two-way communications, there's nothing anyone can do right now.

Edited November 18, 2014 by sketchley

[JB0]

The big concern long-term is going to be temperature. Most space probes have heaters to keep the more delicate partd from being damaged by the cold. I assume Philae is no different.

With no power, Philae's heater is off. When the sun comes back, it'll be a crapshoot if it comes back up fine or if the the thermal transitions have cracked solder joints left and right. I'm rootin' for it, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.

[electric indigo]

ESA not only makes comet chasing space probes, but also cool promo videos