3 ms·

Just an update: the harpoons did fail, but the engineers were very concerned about marked fluctuations in the telemetry. There was a suggestion that the lander

Just an update: the harpoons did fail, but the engineers were very concerned about marked fluctuations in the telemetry. There was a suggestion that the lander might actually be tumbling, but those fears seem to have been allayed by the fact that the oscillations seem to have stopped. The engineers will comb through the data over the coming hours, in anticipation of the next downlink, which should be around 4:30am CET (13th Nov). It seems like there might have been bit of a bounce, and the lander might have landed twice! So long as the downlink is available during the next pass, it seems like the lander has weathered the worst of the landing. Science data has been downlinked, so fingers crossed we'll get some nice images from the surface pretty soon! There's a nice shot of the lander on the way down released already [3]. Sources: [1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30031531 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30031531 [2] Personal communication from ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany [3] https://blog.flickr.net/en/2014/11/12/rosettas-philae-probe-has-successfully-landed-on-a-comet/?linkId=10509947 https://blog.flickr.net/en/2014/11/12/rosettas-philae-probe-...

wozniacki 12y ago
Here's a brief explanation of NASA's role in the mission for those eager to find out how they assisted ALICE , MIRO, and IES will provide information about the dynamics of comet C-G: how it develops its coma and tails, and how its chemicals interact with each other, and with radiation and the solar wind. http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/nasas-role http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/nasas-role and a glossary of the various terms used. http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/rosetta-glossary http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/rosetta-glossary. ( Only adding because I didn't see it mentioned elsewhere. Not for the sake of partisanship or to take away from ESA's grand accomplishment. )

wozniacki 12y ago

Here's a brief explanation of NASA's role in the mission for those eager to find out how they assisted ALICE , MIRO, and IES will provide information about the dynamics of comet C-G: how it develops its coma and tails, and how its chemicals interact with each other, and with radiation and the solar wind. http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/nasas-role http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/nasas-role and a glossary of the various terms used. http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/rosetta-glossary http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/rosetta-glossary. ( Only adding because I didn't see it mentioned elsewhere. Not for the sake of partisanship or to take away from ESA's grand accomplishment. )