Post: #1

http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/news/rosetta...ng-webcast

Live stream of the attempted landing above, but the European Space Agency sent off an orbiter 10 years ago that is releasing a probe on a comet many moons away. The comet should actually touch the surface soon.

Post: #2

I'm not really familiar with this kind of stuff, so forgive me, but what is the point of this mission? Why is it important?

Post: #3

It's the first time any kind of probe would actually land on a comet. Some Russian scientists discovered the comet in 1969 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/67P/Churyum...asimenko), so it's been known about for a while. Comets do follow an elliptical orbit, but they're often far away from the centers of solar systems.

Post: #4

The probe will do chemical analysis of the comet, see what elements and compounds are present. Since comets go back to the beginning of the universe, this is relevant to the physical and even biological history of earth.

Looks like a great achievement so far. We need more of this kind of thing, less wars.

Post: #5

The distance travelled to get the comet is incredible

Rosetta mission: Philae makes historic landing on comet

Quote:Since blasting off in March 2004, Rosetta and its lander Philae have travelled more than 6bn kilometres to catch up with the comet, which orbits the sun at speeds up to 135,000km/h.

Quote:Touchdown for the lander played out 510m kilometres from Earth, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, on a comet hurtling through space at more than 18km/s. At so vast a distance, even radio signals travelling at the speed of light take nearly half an hour to travel from Earth to the spacecraft, making real-time control of the landing impossible. Instead, the entire descent was precalculated, uploaded and run automatically.

Probe makes historic comet landing

Quote:Landing on the small strange world of a comet ranks as one of the greatest achievements in space exploration. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would obviously take pride of place.

People might debate the relative prowess of robotic rovers driving on Mars or the Voyager spacecraft edging out of the solar system.

But touching down on a primordial lump of rock and ice that dates from the earliest days of the Solar System - and which is hurtling through space at 34,000 mph - is a genuine triumph by any standards.

Dreaming up the plan 25 years ago, enduring 10 years of journeying through space, handling the tension of edging close to the comet more than 300 million miles away - all these are remarkable in their own right.

Quote:If all continues to proceed well, Philae should take pictures of the comet's landscape and to analyse its chemical composition.

They are hoping its surface materials will hold fresh insights into the origins of our Solar System more than 4.5 billion years ago.

One theory holds that comets were responsible for delivering water to the planets. Another idea is that they could have "seeded" the Earth with the chemistry needed to help kick-start life.

Post: #6

So... how long until feminists start discussing the greater need for diversity among space exploration missions? Further, the ESA needs to implement "Yes means yes" regulations. Did this comet want to be raped by the probe?

But in all seriousness, this is quite impressive. I always love hearing about this stuff.

Post: #7

Can't wait to see the pictures.

Post: #8

'Merica ?....nope no this time....'Europa !!

This is the stuff of science fiction, all the work attributed to this one moment of landing on a COMET.

Not the moon, but a comet !

One of the top 5 cool things that happened in space this decade.

Apparently the comet smells (chemicals) I really do hope they find alot of information from this.

Post: #9

Imagine the maths involved in getting that thing onto the comet.

Post: #10

(11-12-2014 02:30 PM)Mike5055 Wrote:  So... how long until feminists start discussing the greater need for diversity among space exploration missions? Further, the ESA needs to implement "Yes means yes" regulations. Did this comet want to be raped by the probe?

But in all seriousness, this is quite impressive. I always love hearing about this stuff.

I was watching the coverage of the landing on CNN from the Darmstadt ESA center. The woman with me says "Look, there's only one woman there." Turns out there were more there, but it was an overwhelmingly male crowd.

So I say, "Yeah, that because that's the kind of thing men do, build spacecraft, women don't do that, they cook."

Post: #11

Excellent accomplishment, and kudos to ESA. This is a great mission and the type of exploration I wish humanity would do more of.

Sorry for some bad news: the cold-gas reaction thruster on top isn't working, and the hold-down harpoons did not fire at touchdown. I hope they can pull a rabbit out of a hat here, but unless they fire those harpoons I doubt they will be able to do much except take some pictures. The surface gravity is so low Philae lander is held down with only a few grams of force, so any attempt to drill/collect samples will likely push it off the surface. Fucking sucks, but spaceflight is hard. At least it landed, after at least one 2-hour (!) bounce (due to the thruster outage). Hopefully they landed upright after the bounce so the solar panels are pointing in the right directions and they can still pull off some science experiments.

Post: #12

(11-12-2014 02:30 PM)Mike5055 Wrote:  So... how long until feminists start discussing the greater need for diversity among space exploration missions?

Mars 1: "Houston, we have a problem."

NASA: "We are reading you Mars 1, what seems to be the problem."

Mars 1: "I don't want to talk about it."

NASA: "Seriously Mars 1, is something wrong?"

Mars 1: "No!"

NASA: "If something is wrong please..."

Mars 1: "I SAID NO!"

NASA: "FINE!"

Mars 1: "FINE!"

Post: #13

(11-12-2014 08:47 PM)IvanDrago Wrote:  

(11-12-2014 02:30 PM)Mike5055 Wrote:  So... how long until feminists start discussing the greater need for diversity among space exploration missions?

Mars 1: "Houston, we have a problem."

NASA: "We are reading you Mars 1, what seems to be the problem."

Mars 1: "I don't want to talk about it."

NASA: "Seriously Mars 1, is something wrong?"

Mars 1: "No!"

NASA: "If something is wrong please..."

Mars 1: "I SAID NO!"

NASA: "FINE!"

Mars 1: "FINE!"

Not to derail, but funny you should mention that. One of my buds made that exact joke on Facebook, and three feminists immediately jumped down his throat seconds after he posted it. It's fucking scary how sensitive these bitches are.

Post: #14

Excited about the potential discoveries & especially the tech advancements (even if prime objectives aren't met) that will reverberate from this mission. Even the amalgamation of interdisciplinary fields (engineering, chemical & biological science, material science, advanced math, computer tech, accounting & project management) involved looks mind boggling & impressive to my average mind. Makes a man wanna go back to his desk & perform..calculus.

Post: #15

Amazing pictures taken of the comet.

   

   
This is the landing site the probe aimed for. Gives a good example of its size (4 km wide)

Post: #16

So one of the scientist landing the space probe is catching shit form SJWs because he wore an Hawaiin short with bikini clad women on it. They thinks its sexist and offensive. I kid you not.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/matthew-bal...scientists

Quote:European Space Probe Lands on Comet; Feminists Rip Project Scientist's 'Sexist' Shirt

By Matthew Balan | November 12, 2014 | 4:38 PM EST

The European Space Agency made history on Wednesday, after its Philae lander touched down on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko – the first spacecraft to land on a comet. CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC all interrupted their regular programming with the breaking news. However, a vocal group of leftists on Twitter brushed this stunning development aside to berate one of scientists taking part in the interplanetary endeavor – for his choice in Hawaiian shirts.

Several British media outlets singled out ESA project scientist Dr. Matt Taylor, a native of London, for his "unorthodox appearance," as The Telegraph put it, which includes "colourful dress sense and array of body art." The Daily Mail's Wednesday article noted that Dr. Taylor "has become a Twitter sensation," and was "so confident of success that he already has the triumphant moment of landing tattooed on his leg."

Erin Brodwin, science reporter at Business Insider, decided to zero in on some of the British scientist's critics on Twitter in her Wednesday write-up. Brodwin hyped that "many of the women following that development — and a few men, too — were made to feel pretty unwelcome in the space exploration sphere when one of the people leading the mission decided to show up to talk about it wearing a shirt covered in dozens of half-naked women."

The journalist then posted a Tweet that had a picture of an exuberant Taylor giving two thumbs-up, as he wore a Hawaiian shirt that had pinup-style art on it. The poster of the picture – Henry Legg, a physics student at University of St. Andrews in Scotland – throttled the scientist for his clothing:



Other commenters responded to Legg. One wrote, "I am beyond pissed off. My kid was really interested in the landing but he came on & all she saw was how science isn't for her." (I stumbled upon the controversy, after Twitter user @hormiga complained, "If you think the lead comet robot engineer’s sexist attire isn’t a problem, then you are part of the huge gender problem in STEM" [Science, Technology, Engineering, Math])

Brodwin continued that "after...Taylor wore the shirt while talking to reporters during a global livestream of the comet landing, people watching took to Twitter in frustration," and embedded two negative responses from the social media site. The first post actually came from Rosa Eveleth, a New York-based journalist for The Atlantic:


Near the end of her article, the Business Insider writer pointed out that Dr. Taylor "recently participated in a live online chat with the Wall Street Journal in which he was asked how he gained acceptance in such a respected field while sporting sleeve-length tattoos. He responded, 'The people I work with don't judge me by my looks but only by the work I have done and can do. Simple.'" Brodwin then fired her own shot at the European scientist: "If only women could hope to someday be judged that way too."

Some of the other Twitter users who responded to Legg's attack on Dr. Taylor called out the scientist's feminist critics for the tumult that they started:


Another poster underlined that "I think it's horrendous to be honest. Not sure what I'd do about it though. Magazines BY women are just as bad. The guy shouldn't have worn that, should have had some sense. But not worth getting upset." Those two commenters have it right, and I would add that their attacks could be seen as a left-wing version of "slut-shaming."

Post: #17

While the choice of wearing that shirt is questionable on fashion grounds, at the end of the day, who cares? It's just a shirt.

Also, if one bad shirt is enough to turn you away from an interest in science, I don't think you were that interested to begin with.

Post: #18

Common guys, lets keep this thread focused and not derail it.

Amazing feat! We should start mining comets instead of mining earth.

Post: #19

I'm sure Bruce Willis already did this with Aerosmith playing in the background.

This is amazing though, what a great achievement.

Post: #20

The ESA made a short film to promote the mission:

Post: #21

In my childhood when I read Jules Verne I imagined that humans of my adulthood will be preoccupied with exactly such things. Great discoveries and advancements that would make humanity smarter, more noble, rational and dignified would make most headlines and people who pushed these things would get great respect.

Instead my adulthood is full of news stories about Kardashians ass, gay marriage pushing and offended fat feminists. The only significant technical progress has been the fast evolution of phone - mobiles then smartphones - people becoming smartphone zombies. Social networks are sucking everything in like black holes. Humans start more resembling r-selected bonaboos, not the noble k- selected men of arts and science.

So I am glad this happened, but I feel that majority of humanity doesn't deserve this.

Post: #22

Quote:Humans start more resembling r-selected bonaboos, not the noble k- selected men of arts and science.

So I am glad this happened, but I feel that majority of humanity doesn't deserve this.

Post: #23

The view from the surface. I believe the hardware at bottom middle left is the end of a landing leg with a harpoon subassembly.

Philae bounced twice, first time 113 minutes and second "only" 7 minutes before settling. It might be in a hole or depression in the local terrain or next to a wall, they're not sure until better pix from the orbiter. Sucks if true because the initial battery life is only 60 hours after which it needs to recharge via solar. The more exposure to sunlight the better.

To those asking what is the point of this mission, it's to discern the chemical evolution of the solar system. Comets are thought to have the same chemical distribution as when things condensed down from the original primordial gas cloud. Philae is designed to look for the building blocks of life itself (organics/nucleic and amino acids) and may help explain the chirality (left-handed spirals only) of essential amino acids.

Looks like a nice, pleasant vacation spot:

Post: #24

I´m really proud of this achievement of western civilization. I can only congratulate the scientists, engineers and technicians involved in the mission. It´s another proof what mankind can do when there is determination and Focus. By the way, for ones asking themselves, how much this all cost. I´ve just read that Philae itself, cost 200 million € and the whole Rosetta mission one billion €. Expensive yes, but the scientific discoveries resulting from it, are well worth the spending in my opinion.

Post: #25

Insane! a new first, and the first picture from a totally alien world. Just like when they landed on Titan back in 2005.