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originally posted by: Wide-Eyes
a reply to: AgentSmith
Wow. Nice
originally posted by: Thecakeisalie
Can anyone else see the face in the first image? It looks like Godzilla to me.
But realistically the best place to land would somewhere like the area in the last image-which wouldn't be easy to do when the landing pad is traveling more than 6 miles a second.
originally posted by: Soylent Green Is People
originally posted by: Thecakeisalie
Can anyone else see the face in the first image? It looks like Godzilla to me.
Yes. If we are both seeing the same thing, I say it looks like the head T Rex, looking off a bit to the left side of the picture, and saying "Rawr".
But realistically the best place to land would somewhere like the area in the last image-which wouldn't be easy to do when the landing pad is traveling more than 6 miles a second.
Well, as long as the spacecraft is also moving at the same 6-miles-per-second speed, then it should be very doable.
originally posted by: Tucket
Does anyone know why they choose this comet? I mean Ive heard the Conspiracy theories about signals coming from the comet's location but what is the official reasoning?
The Inquiry Board appointed to investigate the failure of Flight 157 submitted its report to Arianespace on January 6, 2003. The board was named last December 13 to establish the causes of the anomaly during the flight of an Ariane 5 ECA on the night of December 11-12, 2002.
As requested, the board established the most probable cause for the mission failure, examined possible consequences for the baseline Ariane 5 launcher version, and recommended actions to correct the problems that occurred during the Ariane 5 ECA flight
Arianespace has accepted all the recommendations of the board, and will prepare an action plan by January 20 to enable a return to service of the Ariane 5 ECA during the second half of 2003.
Initial findings report Ariane 5 flight 157 - 7th January 2003
The decision to postpone the launch of Rosetta - which was ready well time for the expected launch window - was taken jointly by ESA and Arianespace. The Rosetta launch is not expected for at least one year at the earliest. The Ariane-5 programme is now under thorough reexamination. ESA expects Arianespace to provide the necessary guarantees regarding the Ariane-5 system qualification procedures and review process.
Rosetta can no longer catch its original target, Comet Wirtanen. However, the Rosetta team is now at work finding alternative target comets for the spaceprobe to explore. The team will identify several comets as targets that Rosetta could reach, within the timeframe for launch of the next two-and-a-half-years. It will select new targets on the basis of three main criteria: striving for the maximum scientific return possible, minimising the technical risks to the spacecraft, and carefully estimating the extra funding needed. For the time being, the costs of grounding the mission are likely to be somewhere between Euro 50 and 100 million. The comet shortlist will be presented to the Science Programme Committee (SPC) at their meeting on 25-26 February 2003. The SPC will discuss their suitability and viability. A final decision on the new target and mission profile is expected for May 2003 at the latest.
ESA'S NEW CHALLENGE WITH ROSETTA
Comet-chasing mission Rosetta will now set its sights on Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. During its meeting on 13-14th May 2003, ESA's Science Programme Committee decided Rosetta's new mission baseline. The spacecraft will be launched in February 2004 from Kourou, French Guiana, using an Ariane-5 G+ launcher. The rendezvous with the new target comet is expected in November 2014.
The choice of a new comet has required intensive efforts, including observations by telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the ESO Very Large Telescope to ensure we know as much as we can about the new target. The cost of the Rosetta launch delay is estimated at round 70 million Euros. The ESA Ministerial Council has resolved the financial issue by approving financial flexibility at Agency level.
NEW DESTINATION FOR ROSETTA, EUROPE'S COMET CHASER - 28th May 2003
originally posted by: Aliensun
a reply to: AgentSmith
In the lower right group of four images In the link "Comet on 26th sept...Navcam" there are two points of light in the shadowed portion of the comets. Maybe bad pixels?
Alice Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer
CONSERT Comet Nucleus Sounding Experiment by Radio wave Transmission
COSIMA Cometary Secondary Ion Mass Analyser
GIADA Grain Impact Analyser and Dust Accumulator
MIDAS Micro-Imaging Dust Analysis System
MIRO Microwave Instrument for the Rosetta Orbiter
OSIRIS Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System
ROSINA Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis
RPC Rosetta Plasma Consortium
-> ICA Ion Composition Analyser
-> IES Ion and Electron Sensor
-> LAP Langmuir Probe
-> MAG Fluxgate Magnetometer
-> MIP Mutual Impedance Probe
-> PIU Plasma Interface Unit
RSI Radio Science Investigation
VIRTIS Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer
Rosetta Intruments
APXS Alpha-p-X-ray spectrometer
CIVA Panoramic and microscopic imaging system
CONSERT Radio sounding, nucleus tomography
COSAC Evolved gas analyser - elemental and molecular composition
Ptolemy Evolved gas analyser - isotopic composition
MUPUS Measurements of surface and subsurface properties
ROLIS Imaging
ROMAP Magnetometer and plasma monitor
SD2 Drilling and sample retrieval
SESAME/CASSE Surface Electric Sounding and Acoustic Monitoring Experiment / Comet Acoustic Surface Sounding
SESAME/DIM Surface Electric Sounding and Acoustic Monitoring Experiment / Dust Impact Monitor
SESAME/PP Surface Electric Sounding and Acoustic Monitoring Experiment / Permittivity Probe
Philae Lander Instruments
originally posted by: Aliensun
a reply to: AgentSmith
In the lower right group of four images In the link "Comet on 26th sept...Navcam" there are two points of light in the shadowed portion of the comets. Maybe bad pixels?
originally posted by: Thecakeisalie
a reply to: AgentSmith
Can anyone else see the face in the first image? It looks like Godzilla to me.
Kudos to the team. My understanding is that this mission is one of the most difficult ones ever undertaken and if the landing goes smoothly it will be a first and a tremendous achievement which could change our understanding of comets.
If I was piloting this craft I would aim for the thermal exhaust port in Godzillas left eye-I bet that's a sentence you wouldn't read every day. But realistically the best place to land would somewhere like the area in the last image-which wouldn't be easy to do when the landing pad is traveling more than 6 miles a second.
originally posted by: AgentSmith
a reply to: smurfy
Most (if not all) of these points which are not cosmic rays or sensor noise and are actual physical bodies are small dust particles in close proximity to the camera. Philae has no propulsion system, so it is basically 'fired' at the comet (with an incredibly low relative speed to the comet of approx 1m/s) taking several hours to descend.
On landing, due to the comet's very low escape velocity, Philae is equipped with a cold gas thruster which will push it down while the harpoons and ice screws are deployed anchoring it in place.
Other than this thruster which can accelerate the craft and a flywheel to maintain it's attitude, it has no independent manoeuvring capability so it would not physically be able to evade anything should it be present. It really is a risky operation, luckily it is only a part of a massive series of experiments. Even if it is lost, there is plenty of science to be done with Rosetta itself.