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Did the lander somehow adjust itself while hovering away from the original landing site? I can't imagine Philae bouncing away, then flying for roughly one hour
by valevk 12y ago
Did the lander somehow adjust itself while hovering away from the original landing site? I can't imagine Philae bouncing away, then flying for roughly one hour (?) and then landing on its feet.
- lmm 12y agoIt would land heavy side down both initially and after a bounce, no?
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- throwaway_yy2Di 12y agoGravity exerts almost no torque here. Philae has 100 kg of inertia, but it weighs less than a feather. Even if were in a strong gravity field, that still wouldn't orient it, if there's no force like air resistance to attenuate its tumbling. It can rotate indefinitely in the vertical plane: there's no loss of energy. (In an atmosphere, this rotation is damped by air drag, so gravity can orient things).
- fit2rule 12y agoIt had a flywheel in use at the time, which was used to stabilize its flight relative to the surface, but it induced a spin ..