Philea Comet Lander Wakes Up...

[Deleted]

The European Space Agency will attempt to land a small probe Philae on a comet today 11/12/14 after a 10 year journey.

Link www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30012854

A little surprised that you haven't reported on this one champ,  it'll be a historic first if they do get a safe touch down.

[Deleted]

Around 3 hours to touchdown, pictures should be coming in soon...

[aponderer]

new.livestream.com/esa/cometlanding

[Deleted]

The ESA probe Philae made a historic soft landing on a comet today... confirmed a 16:05 GMT this afternoon.

[Deleted]

Nov 12, 2014 12:45:55 GMT -5 @baldeagle said:

The ESA probe Philae made a historic soft landing on a comet today... confirmed a 16:05 GMT this afternoon.

...and again 1hr 57 mins later.

...and again 7 mins later.

[aponderer]

I wasn't at all sure the "harpoon" plan was a good one.  It seemed to me instead of latching on to the comet, that harpoon technique might jar the lander off the comet if the harpoons didn't stick in...  I haven't been following the mission since yesterday, but is the lander anchored at all on the comet, or just sitting on the comet?

[Deleted]

Nov 13, 2014 13:29:25 GMT -5 aponderer said:

I wasn't at all sure the "harpoon" plan was a good one.  It seemed to me instead of latching on to the comet, that harpoon technique might jar the lander off the comet if the harpoons didn't stick in...  I haven't been following the mission since yesterday, but is the lander anchored at all on the comet, or just sitting on the comet?

As I understand it the lander has two of its three feet on the surface and one, either suspended or in the air, they are not sure yet if the craft is on its side or precariously perched on a 'cliff'. Philae is not receiving enough sunlight to charge it's batteries sufficiently so they have limited time to employ their options, one of which is to remotely fire the harpoons to attempt a better secure, this could actually do the reverse, another, if the craft is near upright, is to use the propulsion system or try to move it to a better position. All options are fraught with danger but in truth, the mission is already a success, apparently, I understand, 90% of information gleaned in these misions is done in the first 24 hours after landing.

[Deleted]

Mission facts:

Philae lander

Travelled 6.4 billion km (four billion miles) to reach the comet

Journey took 10 years

Planning for the journey began 25 years ago

Comet 67P

More than four billion years old

Mass of 10 billion tonnes

Hurtling through space at 18km/s (40,000mph)

Shaped like a rubber duck

Link. www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30038871

[Deleted]

Nov 13, 2014 9:02:23 GMT -5 @baldeagle said:

Nov 12, 2014 12:45:55 GMT -5 @baldeagle said:

The ESA probe Philae made a historic soft landing on a comet today... confirmed a 16:05 GMT this afternoon.

...and again 1hr 57 mins later.

...and again 7 mins later.

a plan gone wrong, apparently. Sad.

[Deleted]

Nov 13, 2014 18:39:32 GMT -5 @paradigm said:

Nov 13, 2014 9:02:23 GMT -5 @baldeagle said:

...and again 1hr 57 mins later.

...and again 7 mins later.

a plan gone wrong, apparently. Sad.

The mission has still been a success and it isn't finished yet.

[Deleted]

"The Philae lander has attempted to drill into the surface of comet 67/P, amid fears that its battery may die in hours.

Researchers at Esa say the instrument is being deployed to its maximum extent despite the risk of toppling the lander.

Scientists hope they will also be able to capture some samples for analysis in the robot's onboard laboratories."

They are also attempting to move the lander so that it may gain a little more power from the limited amount of sunlight available to it. Two other instruments including a thermometer have also been deployed.

Link: www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30055383

[Deleted]

Contrary to popular belief expressed in another thread on the subject 'Philae' is not a philanderer or a cheesesteak sub, it is actually named after an island in Lake Nasser, Egypt. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philae 

[Deleted]

Update***

Philae is back in radio contact.

"The first good news to emerge from the latest radio contact is that Philae appears to have suffered no major disruption from the drilling. And the instrument onboard the probe that was due to receive the first sample, Cosac, is feeding science data to Earth."

[Deleted]

Update...

Philae loses power.

"The Philae lander on the distant comet 67P has sent another stream of data back to Earth before losing power.

The little probe delivered everything expected from it, just as its failing battery dropped it into standby mode."

[Deleted]

"Scientists say they detected what might be complex carbon compounds on the surface of the comet the craft landed on two weeks ago.

The results are from the Ptolemy instrument, which is a miniaturised on-board laboratory.

The detection of carbon supports a view that comets may have brought key chemicals to Earth to kick-start life."

"Now we have some data and it's: Wow! This is what scientists do this stuff for”

Prof Ian Wright Open University

 

The team leader, Prof Ian Wright, told BBC News: "We can say with absolute certainty that we saw a very large signal of what are basically organic (carbon) compounds".

Link: www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30209533

[husagafella]

Nov 27, 2014 10:13:30 GMT -5 @baldeagle said:

"Scientists say they detected what might be complex carbon compounds on the surface of the comet the craft landed on two weeks ago.

The results are from the Ptolemy instrument, which is a miniaturised on-board laboratory.

The detection of carbon supports a view that comets may have brought key chemicals to Earth to kick-start life."

"Now we have some data and it's: Wow! This is what scientists do this stuff for”

Prof Ian Wright Open University

 

The team leader, Prof Ian Wright, told BBC News: "We can say with absolute certainty that we saw a very large signal of what are basically organic (carbon) compounds".

Link: www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30209533

Sounds what the Champ has been telling all you Doubting Thomases for years now .

[Deleted]

Nov 27, 2014 10:28:32 GMT -5 husagafella said:

Nov 27, 2014 10:13:30 GMT -5 @baldeagle said:

"Scientists say they detected what might be complex carbon compounds on the surface of the comet the craft landed on two weeks ago.

The results are from the Ptolemy instrument, which is a miniaturised on-board laboratory.

The detection of carbon supports a view that comets may have brought key chemicals to Earth to kick-start life."

"Now we have some data and it's: Wow! This is what scientists do this stuff for”

Prof Ian Wright Open University

 

The team leader, Prof Ian Wright, told BBC News: "We can say with absolute certainty that we saw a very large signal of what are basically organic (carbon) compounds".

Link: www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30209533

Sounds what the Champ has been telling all you Doubting Thomases for years now .

Actually, it doesn't. The champ has been telling us that we have been visited by intelligent aliens, this discovery merely identifies the possible building blocks of primitive life forms, which of course we spring from.

As regards previous visits from advanced civilizations, my own jury is still out.

[husagafella]

Nov 27, 2014 10:35:18 GMT -5 @baldeagle said:

Nov 27, 2014 10:28:32 GMT -5 husagafella said:

Sounds what the Champ has been telling all you Doubting Thomases for years now .

Actually, it doesn't. The champ has been telling us that we have been visited by intelligent aliens, this discovery merely identifies the possible building blocks of primitive life forms, which of course we spring from.

As regards previous visits from advanced civilizations, my own jury is still out.

Wrong, Champ has also been talking about the seeding of life for years. If fact the other resident waannabe scientist on here, EY, recently made seeding a topic of conversation in another thread.  You guys should leave the science to the Champ

[Deleted]

Nov 27, 2014 10:42:28 GMT -5 husagafella said:

Nov 27, 2014 10:35:18 GMT -5 @baldeagle said:

Actually, it doesn't. The champ has been telling us that we have been visited by intelligent aliens, this discovery merely identifies the possible building blocks of primitive life forms, which of course we spring from.

As regards previous visits from advanced civilizations, my own jury is still out.

Wrong, Champ has also been talking about the seeding of life for years. If fact the other resident waannabe scientist on here, EY, recently made seeding a topic of conversation in another thread.  You guys should leave the science to the Champ

I think that the champ's 'seeding' is more to do with his aliens casting their procreational seed about, not with a comets complex organic compounds.

[Deleted]

Nov 27, 2014 10:42:28 GMT -5 husagafella said:

Nov 27, 2014 10:35:18 GMT -5 @baldeagle said:

Actually, it doesn't. The champ has been telling us that we have been visited by intelligent aliens, this discovery merely identifies the possible building blocks of primitive life forms, which of course we spring from.

As regards previous visits from advanced civilizations, my own jury is still out.

You guys should leave the science to the Champ

If we'd done that you'd probably have square wheels on your car.

[Deleted]

Wow! It was more hoped for than expected but the Philea Comet Lander has woken up 7 months after its batteries ran out. Now its nearing the sun the photo cells are getting enough sunlight for the lander to continue its scientific investigations.

link

[Deleted]

Another update on the Philae Comet Lander and Rosetta.

Philae Update...

[Deleted]

And now, finally, Rosetta has been deliberately crash landed into the comet to complete the mission, sending more close up images and valuable data as it did so.

Link: www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37520420

RIP Rosetta and Philae, job well done.