Updates Rosetta Mission News

[SolarLiner]

Hope it's not upside down. :facepalm:

Philae has been communicating with Rosetta and Earth, so it is not upside down, at least the antennas are not buried underground or something.

 

[Proximus]

Ohh the tension builds, can't wait for more news tomorrow morning!

I do hope the harpoon system can be utilised, maybe we should talk nicely to the

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

I do hope the harpoon system can be utilised, maybe we should talk nicely to the

The Almighty Probe watches over all of its children, no matter where they fly. :thumbup:

 

[SolarLiner]

Or get someone in a singularity to control it directly!

 

[Fabri91]

On the bright side, if there really has been a second landing:
Europe / ESA, back to back comet-landing champ!

 

[Proximus]

Or get someone in a singularity to control it directly!

Indeed
I witnessed something very similar this very afternoon :shifty:

 

[Urwumpe]

Goldstone is receiving Rosetta telemetry right now.

 

[Unstung]

So Philae's harpoons did not fire and the robot might have bounced off the surface and landed again two hours later. Phil Plait says the ice screws deployed. If all this did happen but the lander is secure, how will that affect the science Philae's been programmed to do?

The seven hours of terror have been extended.

 

[SolarLiner]

Indeed
I witnessed something very similar this very afternoon :shifty:

"STAY"
Same message applies to Philae tho

 

[ISProgram]

I heard it might've landed a total of three times...

Seven hours of terror might become days while they evaluate the state of the lander and try to refire those harpoons if they can.

Regardless, this is still a achievement even if it fails. This guy spent the better part of a decade in space, if everything when normal it might've been extraordinary.

But all this suspense with the harpoons and fluffy terrain...

 

[statickid]

With G at a few mm/s how high were the bounces? A few meters?

 

[Quick_Nick]

With G at a few mm/s how high were the bounces? A few meters?

The basic kinematic equations suggest on the order of 6km for the first bounce.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

The basic kinematic equations suggest on the order of 6km for the first bounce.

:blink: How'd you figure that? Flight time?

 

[Quick_Nick]

:blink: How'd you figure that? Flight time?

Yes
1/2 a t^2
Low a, very high t... squared.
The gravitational acceleration is highly uncertain though. I'm sure it's known better than the 10^-3 m/s I used though.

 

[Keatah]

a 6km bounce? How would the probe remain oriented for another touchdown?

 

[Einion Yrth]

Presumably the gyro was still running.

 

[Urwumpe]

Not sure if it was really 6 km. Remember that the spacecraft would then have been bouncing at nearly escape velocity, so it could also be well possible to be at a nearly-orbital trajectory.

After all, the comet rotates slowly (but almost as fast as orbiting the comet) and the trajectory of Philae had a component to compensate this rotation and land at minimal surface velocity.

So, the bounce could really have taken 2 hours or 1/6th of a rotation of 67P Kevin, but the apogee was much closer to the surface, maybe just a few dozen cm above.

 

[SiberianTiger]

I have been skeptical about the harpoon stuff all along... :hmm:

 

[Quick_Nick]

I have been skeptical about the harpoon stuff all along... :hmm:

Seemingly, NONE of these things happened:

Though three (?) failures made up for by three (?) landings isn't too bad.

 

[Urwumpe]

ESA has contact with Philae again, looks like it is stable now.