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

Apparently the 'ice' screws didn't work either so the lander is simply sitting in contact with the surface. I doubt they will fire (even be able to fire) the harpoons now. Maybe they'll have a crack at drilling right towards the end of the first science runs (as soon as they think they have wrung the maximum data out of every other science instrument).

Actually, perhaps (much later) they could even have a stab at using the drill to bounce around and see if they can gain a more favourable position. :D
 
Several CIVA images are in and one is of the 'sky' which suggests the lander is on quite a slope, or the edge of a 'cliff', or indeed, on its side!
 
They're going to have a hell of a time working out where it is. Any hope of triangulating its position from Rosetta's orbit do you think?
 
Crispy said:
They're going to have a hell of a time working out where it is. Any hope of triangulating its position from Rosetta's orbit do you think?
Click to expand...

Radio science will help constrain it but I suspect they will be studying images from the orbiter very carefully to try to pinpoint it.
 
Hmm. Could be on its side? :hmm:

B2UI6lmCQAAeLiU.jpg:medium
 
Rosetta recently passed over the radio horizon of the lander. No more data until the next contact window which is 1927-2347UTC.
 
Crispy said:
They're going to have a hell of a time working out where it is. Any hope of triangulating its position from Rosetta's orbit do you think?
Click to expand...

The senior science advisor has just stated that they should be able to pinpoint it from the radio signal.
 
wayward bob said:
just been browsing the flickr stream. properly awesome, i'm a little overcome :oops: apparently they're slightly contrast adjusted - the surface is "blacker than coal".
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Hold a piece of charcoal in your hand. Now illuminate it with only 10% of the usual daylight - for example imagine examining it under a very overcast sky (such as when a large storm is approaching).
 
The French Space Agency seem to think they have an idea where it is:

New_location.jpg

Apparently about 1km from the first touchdown location (which would be a substantial distance on a comet nucleus that is only about 4km across). Harpoons confirmed as not having triggered. Solar panels appear damaged. Gets 1h20m of sunlight to charge each 'day'. 50 hours or so of battery charge left which is sufficient to complete main science objectives. They think the lander is about 30cm above the surface at a steep angle (>30 degrees). 8 out of 10 instruments definitely functioning and sending back data - the other 2 can't be activated until the status of the lander is fully understood (plus they consume far more power which they want to conserve right now for maximum science return).
 
The battery discharge rate (red) certainly exceeds the recharge rate (blue) ever since the final 'landing':

philae-power.png
 
Landing sites (small red square first touchdown as intended, ie site J, large blue diamond the final position on the surface after the bounces determined by radio studies):

landing-sites.jpg
 
wayward bob said:
presumably that could have a significant impact on planned tests? :(
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Yep. It's resting on the two legs and side that are on the RH side of this image:

Philae_over_a_comet_%28crop%29.jpg


You can even see the CONSERT antenna mashed into the rocks in the first surface photo. That experiment might still work with a mashed-up antenna, or it might be a write-off. All the other instruments poke out of the "open" side of the lander. It depends on what's in line of sight as to whether those instruments will get good data.

Obviously, the drilling and sampling instruments won't work because the drill would just be dangling around in the (lack of) air. No chance of using it as a "foot" either :(
 
There's a chance they might (battery and science program allowing) decide to try to shove/hop it in a couple of days time, perhaps in concert with firing up the flywheel.

e2a: or they might wait to see if the lander recharges later (days or months) under more favourable lighting conditions (long after the initial main science programme is complete), wakes up and then risk trying to move it.
 
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can any passing photographers help me with this please?

esa said:
This work is licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO) licence. The user is allowed to reproduce, distribute, adapt, translate and publicly perform this publication, without explicit permission, provided that the content is accompanied by an acknowledgement that the source is credited as 'European Space Agency - ESA', a direct link to the licence text is provided and that it is clearly indicated if changes were made to the original content. Adaptation/translation/derivatives must be distributed under the same licence terms as this publication.
Click to expand...

as long as i attribute i can reproduce as i wish, even in commercial work?
 
Oh! Turns out the landing gear can be retracted and extended, which raises the possibility of getting the lander out its trap :cool:

But battery power is precious and there's not a lot of light falling on the solar cells.

Do they try and get maximum science out of their existing position? Or try and improve it but risk losing the whole thing?

There must be some *very* tense meetings going on at mission control.
 
They are there primarily for the comet science, not astrodynamics. I'd imagine they will wring out as much as they can from the instruments where they are then, if there is sufficient power left they might gamble on trying to move it. They may let it slumber and see if it can recharge sufficiently first, then try a maneuver and see where they end up (a few years back there was a separate comet hopper mission proposal).
 
ESA head of mission operations has just said they will pursue collection of science data until the batteries run down on Friday or Saturday. After that they will wait and see if it recharges (this could mean waiting weeks or months for more favourable lighting conditions). If Philae then has sufficient energy and the lander wakes up and gets in contact they will consider their options for trying to reposition it.
 
Am just wondering if that is a jet off the surface of the comet nucleus in the top right (as we look at it) of the panorama montage.
 
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