Rosetta space mission - Philae probe due to land on comet on 12th Nov 2014

[Crispy]

Looks like lens flare to me

 

[2hats]

Looks like lens flare to me

Could be. Would need to know where the sun is and model the lens and geometries to rule in/out.

 

[Crispy]

Here's the panorama again, but this time each image has had its exposure tweaked for clarity



Judging by the shadows in the TL image, I reckon the sun is coming from the BL, along the axis of the "flare"

 

[weltweit]

It looks to be surrounded by rock walls with only one side open to space. Not great for charging the batteries.

 

[2hats]

If you stretch the above:

you get an impression of it having stopped, almost on one side, against a cliff or crater wall. Nearest surface in the 6-9 o'clock positions.

 

[weltweit]

They have a downwards facing camera no? wonder what it views.

 

[weltweit]

Philae is running on its primary battery for the main science tasks, at the moment it is getting 1.5 hours sunlight per day, it apparently needs 6 to extend the mission or to wake up later and continue.

 

[PursuedByBears]

Could it go dormant until it gets nearer the sun (sorry, don't know its orbit)?

 

[Crispy]

Could it go dormant until it gets nearer the sun (sorry, don't know its orbit)?

That's the plan.

 

[PursuedByBears]

 

[Crispy]

Of course, nobody knows if it'll last that long, or if it'll ever get enough sun. Still, it's already done plenty of science, and Rosetta itself will be along for the ride through perihelion. Still lots to know about this comet

 

[weltweit]

Unlucky, the thruster then also harpoons failing, either of which could have prevented the bounce(s). I suppose the screw feet should have worked but I wonder what triggers them and when they would have activated?

 

[2hats]

Could it go dormant until it gets nearer the sun (sorry, don't know its orbit)?

All the time the comet's orbit draws it closer to the sun so the effective charge per unit time the solar arrays can store increases. On the downside the temperature rises in step with this (which was an original concern as a factor for limiting the lifetime of the lander). However it appears to be in rough terrain. It might not experience too harsh heating. It might even turn out to be close to ideal. However components could equally suffer thermally induced mechanical stress due to the wide temperature variations experienced (from shadow to direct sunlight) and the uneven heating across the lander. Another scenario is that it just gets too cold for too long and the lander never recovers from that.

Also, the comet rotates - in an odd fashion - and will precess (wobble about that rotational axis). As the comet progresses closer to the sun it will heat. This is overwhelmingly likely to be uneven in nature. The rate and axis of rotation will change (they have already been observed to change just in the time Rosetta has been chasing the comet). They will change even more quickly as will the precession. In effect there will be 'seasons' of a sort on the surface of the nucleus. They will be somewhat random as the comet surface sublimates, out gasses and spins the nucleus up (and down). The lighting (charging) situation will change.

Philae might yet get another lease of life beyond the initial battery charges.

 

[Giles]

You'd think that they'd have an onsite maintenance contract in place ;-)

Can't they send a Clanger?

 

[wayward bob]

really appreciate your posts on this thread 2hats

 

[2hats]

I suppose the screw feet should have worked but I wonder what triggers them and when they would have activated?

The physical impact of the lander with the comet surface itself is the source of motion for driving the screws home. There is only a range of parameters over which they can be engineered to work. Perhaps the initial surface was too soft, angles wrong, impact velocity too high/low or a lander leg 'pinging' off a more solid portion of the surface (eg a rock) sparked the rebound so the screws never got a chance to dig in. They are of no use for the position that the lander now appears to be in.

Quite likely the landing would have worked exactly as planned had the cold gas thruster been operational - even without the harpoons and ice screws it would probably have compensated for all the rebound energy and the lander would have been left in contact with the surface, in the correct orientation at the planned landing site (ideal charging conditions for an extended mission).

e2a: A foot with the 'ice' screw between the pair of pads on each.

Each foot needs sufficient load on both pads to drive the screw through the flexing of the landing gear legs about a central joint at impact. The screw only turns one way so can not retract once in the surface.

 

[Supine]

It's amazing it even got there. 10/10 for humanity

V2 will be some bad ass robot with 360 degree wheels for all terain exploration and 4k def video cameras.

Putin will probably try to land a Russian flag on one.

 

[2hats]

V2 will be some bad ass robot with 360 degree wheels for all terain exploration

Not suitable for the forces involved here. You would need something that actively clings to the nucleus all the time. A bit like one of those wall walkers:

or (more sensibly) the manner in which a rock/ice climber moves up a cliff. There just isn't sufficient gravity for a rover of the type used on Mars/the Moon - it would end up launching itself off the surface. However just merely being in contact with the nucleus would suffice - no need to worry about any notion of up and down. It's not that important - which is one reason the folks behind Philae aren't too disappointed. The 'just being in contact' idea is essentially that behind the comet hopper mission I mentioned earlier.

 

[2hats]

The MUPUS team have just announced that the plan is to deploy their penetrator (probe to measure various properties of the subsurface material) to 2/3 of its length by/around 2300UTC tonight. Should be interesting...

e2a: sequence confirmed as being uploaded right now.

 

[brogdale]

You'd think that they'd have an onsite maintenance contract in place ;-)

Can't they send a Clanger?

Err...check out 0.35...what's that, eh?

 

[brogdale]

...and if that's not the lid on the Soup Dragon's lair...I don't know what is.

From here...seriously good image!

 

[Supine]

^ there's a missile silo on the left of the bottom chunk in that picture

 

[Hocus Eye.]

This whole project is absolutely mind boggling. I am getting similar sensations to when the first moon landing was achieved.

 

[brogdale]

^ there's a missile silo on the left of the bottom chunk in that picture

Don't bother looking on the official ESA air-brushed images Sheeple...the raw ones are out there. This ain't no comet....

 

[goldenecitrone]

Don't bother looking on the official ESA air-brushed images Sheeple...the raw ones are out there. This ain't no comet....

Ukrainian neo-nazis guiding the comet/warhead onto Russia?

 

[brogdale]

Iron chicken, or what?

 

[2hats]

The MUPUS penetrator being test in the lab:


Animation of deployment:


The device will measure temperature and heat flow in the nucleus material.

 

[2hats]

Ukrainian neo-nazis guiding the comet/warhead onto Russia?

Has anyone yet pointed out that both Churyumov and Gerasimenko are Ukrainian?

 

[brogdale]

Has anyone yet pointed out that both Churyumov and Gerasimenko are Ukrainian?

The UFOtroofers got very excited by the bright blob top right.

http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/...-eng-GB/Comet_on_10_September_2014_NavCam.jpg

 

[2hats]

The MUPUS team have just announced that the plan is to deploy their penetrator (probe to measure various properties of the subsurface material) to 2/3 of its length by/around 2300UTC tonight. Should be interesting...

e2a: sequence confirmed as being uploaded right now.

Apparently the command sequence failed to upload to the lander.

e2a: down to a temporary break in the comms link it would seem.