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Hope this isn't a dumb question, but how does Philae stay put? If the gravity strong enough to keep it on the surface? Also, as the comet nears the sun and part
by adregan 12y ago
Hope this isn't a dumb question, but how does Philae stay put? If the gravity strong enough to keep it on the surface? Also, as the comet nears the sun and parts of the comet start flying off, is there a threat of Philae getting swept along with it?
- JoeAltmaier 12y agoHarpoon, ice screw. Retro-rockets failed to deploy.
- forgotpasswd3x 12y agoThe robot deployed harpoons to fasten itself to the 2.5-mile-wide ball of ice and dust.
- gt565k 12y agothe harpoons failed to anchor to the surface, according to mission control, which was just announced on the live coverage. It appears they will try to reshoot the harpoons at some point if possible.
- a-priori 12y agoI love how simple and low-tech this solution is. People have been using anchored ropes and cables of various kinds to fasten things together for millennia. People have been using harpoons at sea for whaling for centuries.
- Cthulhu_ 12y agoI now have a picture of the lander having one ivory leg and the asteroid called Moby Dick. Thanks, :p
- 4ad 12y agoGravity is very weak, it harpooned itself into the surface. The comet doesn't come very close to the sun, only around 1.2AU or so.
- owenmarshall 12y ago> Also, as the comet nears the sun and parts of the comet start flying off, is there a threat of Philae getting swept along with it? To add to what everyone else mentioned: Philae's science mission is slated to last for 2.5 days - the batteries have ~65 hours of charge, that's it. The hope is that they may be able to charge it and keep gathering data afterwards. So it's not going to last nearly that long.