Rosetta is a project of ESA (European Space Agency)
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (@ESA)
Today, November 12 2014 it will send a lander (Philae) to touch down on the surface of the comet, actually this is going to happen in few minutes but the radio signal will take another 28 minutes before reaching us.
The Go/No Go decision was taken last night and it was not an easy one since problems were detected with a thruster that was supposed to slow down the descent.
As it will not be usable, the landing structs are supposed to absorb the impact.
Another issue is related to the fact that the lander will have to secure itself on the surface by drilling screws in the surface and the thruster was supposed to provide pressure to ensure this activity will not push the lander away from the surface.
Hopes are the harpoons will be enough to prevent this issue.
This is the first time we try to land something on a comet, it was never attempted before, so there are many things that can go wrong.
Here the briefing
Will update this post after the touchdown procedure is complete (fingers crossed)
Landing webcast here
10:05 CET - Successful separation confirmed
14:20 CET circa - First images showing Philae detached from Rosetta arrived
Note : Lol, ESA seems to be able to reach a comet about 1.700Ls away from Earth (and hopefully land on it)... but apparently cannot manage a webcast :) And that's why they say a webcast is NOT rocket science!
17:04 CET - Excitement of ESA personnel seems to indicate that telemetry data confirmed the touchdown was successful
Currently they are trying to figure out if the lander bounced on the surface of if it managed to settle down properly.
ESA just confirmed the lander is sitting on the surface. Success!!!!
Captain James T. Kirk wishes good luck to Rosetta
The ROLIS instrument on board of the Philae lander module captured this image while descending to the surface
"The image shows comet 67P/CG acquired by the ROLIS instrument on the Philae lander during descent on Nov 12, 2014 14:38:41 UT from a distance of approximately 3 km from the surface. The landing site is imaged with a resolution of about 3m per pixel.
The ROLIS instrument is a down-looking imager that acquires images during the descent and doubles as a multispectral close-up camera after the landing. The aim of the ROLIS experiment is to study the texture and microstructure of the comet's surface. ROLIS (ROsetta Lander Imaging System) is a descent and close-up camera on the Philae Lander. It has been developed by the DLR Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin. The lander separated from the orbiter at 09:03 GMT (10:03 CET) and touched down on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko seven hours later."
More space Exploration, less jet fighters!
