Try Navigating the Rosetta Mission on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Yourself! !

Think the Rosetta Mission was easy? Try it for yourself!

NASA recently put a game online, enabling you to get a feel of the challenges which the Rosetta Mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko represented. You have five priorities:

- Arrive at the comet nucleus and drop a lander in a scientifically interesting area.

- Observe scientifically interesting things from the lander and the spacecraft.

- Receive data from the lander.

- Transmit orbiter and lander data to Earth.

- Keep Rosetta from crashing into large chunks of comet material that spew from the surface.

So, try your luck!


EDIT:

On my second attempt, I scored 21297.

Third attempt: 35152 points.

That's interesting. I just looked at it briefly, I'll have to try to play it later.

I wonder if we can reverse engineer the source of the flash program and give Rosetta some particle beam weapons and nuclear devices. Then we can add some possible discoveries like a giant 2001: A Space Odyssey style obelisk, or hidden alien spaceships.


I know. That doesn't support the space science education agenda... But, it would be more fun.

Thanks for sharing!

Dex

Today's NASA:
Cannot land on a comet, but
can make a children's video game about it.

a reply to: FuManchu2

Well that's not quite fair. The NASA folks are ecstatic about the ESA's success. It's also nice to see the European Union, and a few others, ponying up some cash for civilian space science exploration.

On the other hand, NASA has been first with a great many extraordinary missions. Including the first mission to capture Cometary particles and return them to Earth. And the first to land on an Asteroid. And I don't think the latter event was even a planned phase of the NEAR Shoemaker mission.

NASA can't do everything. There's just not enough money.


Dex

a reply to: FuManchu2

Do you know how hard it is to land something on a comet?

The comet is moving at a speed of 135 thousands km/h. And for the record, the landing did succeed. link

a reply to: swanne

It did indeed but he's right that NASA didn't land, as it's an ESA mission.