How strong would its gravity be?
Very very weak. About 1/10,000th of a G. They're not even in an actual orbit yet, just floating around nearby, using the spacecraft's thrusters to make a triangular path around it. It will eventually come in for an orbit, but very very low - just 30km away.How strong would its gravity be?
That's low enough to give an apple options.Very very weak. About 1/10,000th of a G. They're not even in an actual orbit yet, just floating around nearby, using the spacecraft's thrusters to make a triangular path around it. It will eventually come in for an orbit, but very very low - just 30km away.
That's low enough to give an apple options.
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Site J offers the minimum risk to the lander in comparison to the other candidate sites, and is also scientifically interesting, with signs of activity nearby. At Site J, the majority of slopes are less than 30º relative to the local vertical, reducing the chances of Philae toppling over during touchdown. Site J also appears to have relatively few boulders and receives sufficient daily illumination to recharge Philae and continue science operations on the surface beyond the initial battery-powered phase.
Is the "graininess" of the smooth areas actually in the material, or noise in the sensor. Must be the real thing right?
The perfume of this comet is quite strong, with the odour of rotten eggs (hydrogen sulphide), of horse stable (ammonia) and the pungent, suffocating odour of formaldehyde. This is mixed with the faint, bitter, almond-like aroma of hydrogen cyanide. Add some whiff of alcohol (methanol) to this mixture paired with the vinegar like aroma of sulphur dioxide and a hint of the sweet aromatic scent of carbon disulphide and you arrive at the perfume of our comet.
It's like they're playing Kerbal with infinite fuel turned on
Well, you say Photoshopped....There was also a fun slide illustrating the scale on the surface of the nucleus. The rock nicknamed Cheops is some 45m across at the base and 20m or so high. Below is its location with the actual pyramid of Cheops (~230x140m) photoshopped alongside for scale:
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