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I watched this documentary called "To catch a comet" about the Rosette/Philae mission to comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The achievement of getting to the comet an
by newscracker 10y ago
I watched this documentary called "To catch a comet" about the Rosette/Philae mission to comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The achievement of getting to the comet and landing Philae, like many other achievements in space, is really phenomenal. So many things could've gone wrong, but the fact that the worst was Philae bouncing and getting stuck in a dark place (and not being able to perform fully) is a huge success beset by an issue of a smaller magnitude.
The description of the documentary says [1]:
> Unable to carry enough fuel owing to weight restrictions, the Rosetta scientists devised a delicate cat and mouse trajectory to reach their distant destination. In the ten years Rosetta had been in space she flew around the Earth three times, Mars once and the asteroid belt twice, to gain the momentum she needed to reach her destination. In the months before landing, the team navigated Rosetta safely to a world never before observed at such distances or accuracy. Rosetta orbited the comet before releasing Philae onto the surface.
Quoting from the article of this thread:
> “We were beginning to think that Philae would remain lost forever. It is incredible we have captured this at the final hour.”
This brings a much better ending for the people who worked on the mission for more than 30 years. [1] We tend to anthropomorphize things like spacecrafts, landers, rovers and many other inanimate objects. I think for the team (and many others following this news), this photo would be like being able to see a dear friend one last time, say goodbye in their minds and have some kind of closure.
The Wikipedia article, and especially the section titled "Landing and surface operations" [2], is also quite interesting to read.
[1]: http://www.pbs.org/program/catch-comet/ http://www.pbs.org/program/catch-comet/
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philae_(spacecraft)#Landing_and_surface_operations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philae_(spacecraft)#Landing_an...
- WestCoastJustin 10y agoI tried to find the full version of the PBS "To catch a comet" about the Rosette/Philae mission but came up empty handed. Searching google, I was able to find a talk by Mark McCaughrean (ESA) called "Rosetta: to Catch a Comet". Been watching it for about 30 minutes and it's awesome. So, for anyone else looking for something to watch, this worked out great. Pretty amazing talk! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOiY-OCCRjs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOiY-OCCRjs
- kordless 10y agoThere's also the argument for doing things a better way. Our propulsion systems suck, which is why we're having to send robots to comets instead of humans. Humans don't get stuck in cracks. Robots get stuck in cracks because they have no clue how to measure things they've never seen before.
- mturmon 10y agoCome on. Propulsion is far from the first reason we're not sending humans to comets -- safety, risk, mass, need for return, habitability.
- spdegabrielle 10y agoAll those things are inseparable from propulsion.
- rm_-rf_slash 10y agoThat's a fair point. That's like saying "we have the best medical facilities in the world for any treatment imaginable, but the hospital is five miles away. How will we carry you there in time to be treated?"
- johncolanduoni 10y agoHow do you figure? One of the biggest safety issues for manned space travel is radiation. Do you plan on outrunning it?
- snowwrestler 10y agoIf you have awesome propulsion then you can just bring a shitload of shielding mass.
- mturmon 10y agoBut use of such a system requires development, testing, and flight qualification, affecting cost, schedule, and risk. It will also affect other variables, like volume. Focusing on a point solution like "propulsion" is not even the right kind of question to answer "why not solve this problem with humans?".
- kilotaras 10y agoI would recommend everyone who hasn't done so already watch the trajectory of Rosette[1]. 1. https://youtu.be/ktrtvCvZb28 https://youtu.be/ktrtvCvZb28
- _nedR 10y agoAlso available in handy gif form : http://i.imgur.com/TUkKuhf.gif http://i.imgur.com/TUkKuhf.gif
- Snesker 10y ago>the Rosetta scientists devised a delicate cat and mouse trajectory to reach their distant destination. In the ten years Rosetta had been in space she flew around the Earth three times, Mars once and the asteroid belt twice, to gain the momentum she needed to reach her destination. In the months before landing, the team navigated Rosetta safely to a world never before observed at such distances or accuracy. Rosetta orbited the comet before releasing Philae onto the surface. You're a lost cause if you believe something so ludicrous actually happened.