Tag Archive | Philae

So long, Rosetta

So, the long journey is over. The Europeans Space Agency’s probe Rosetta was purposely crashed into the surface of (deep breath) Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko just a few minutes ago, landing just 40 m away from its intended target. It now joins the doughty, though ill-fated lander module Philae on the surface of the comet.

Rosetta’s OSIRIS wide-angle camera captured this image at 11:49 GMT yesterday (29 September 2016) when Rosetta was 22.9 km from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Photograph: Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Rosetta’s OSIRIS wide-angle camera captured this image on 29 September 2016 at 11:49 GMT yesterday when Rosetta was 22.9 km from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Photograph: Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Rosetta sent many fantastic images back to us here on earth, and the close-up details of the comet’s surface on her descent are amazing.

Single frame enhanced NavCam image taken on 29 September 2016 at 22:53 GMT, when Rosetta was 20 km from the centre of the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The scale at the surface is about 1.7 m/pixel and the image measures about 1.7 km across. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

Single frame enhanced NavCam image taken on 29 September 2016 at 22:53 GMT, when Rosetta was 20 km from the centre of the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The scale at the surface is about 1.7 m/pixel and the image measures about 1.7 km across. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera captured this image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at 01:20 GMT from an altitude of about 16 km above the surface during the spacecraft’s final descent on 30 September.   The image scale is about 30 cm/pixel and the image measures about 614 m across.   Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera captured this image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 30 September at 01:20 GMT from an altitude of about 16 km above the surface during the spacecraft’s final descent . The image scale is about 30 cm/pixel and the image measures about 614 m across. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Comet 67P/C-G viewed with Rosetta's OSIRIS NAC on 30 September 2016, 11.7 km from the surface. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Comet 67P/C-G viewed with Rosetta’s OSIRIS NAC on 30 September 2016 at 05:25 GMT, 11.7 km from the surface. The image scale is about 22 cm/pixel and the image measures about 450 m across. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Comet 67P/C-G viewed with Rosetta's OSIRIS NAC on 30 September 2016, 8.9 km from the surface. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Comet 67P/C-G viewed with Rosetta’s OSIRIS NAC on 30 September 2016 at 06:53 GMT, 8.9 km from the surface. The image scale is about 17 cm/pixel and the image measures about 350 m across. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Comet 67P/C-G viewed with Rosetta's OSIRIS NAC on 30 September 2016, 5.8 km from the surface. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Comet 67P/C-G viewed with Rosetta’s OSIRIS NAC on 30 September 2016 at 08:18 GMT, 5.8 km from the surface. The image scale is about 11 cm/pixel and the image measures about 225 m across. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

8.21 GMT 30 Septe,ber 2016.

Comet 67P/C-G viewed with Rosetta’s OSIRIS NAC on 30 September 2016 at 8.21 GMT, 5.7 km from the surface. The image scale is about 11 cm/pixel and the image measures about 225 m across. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Modern art, or Rosetta scans?

Modern art, or Rosetta scans of its landing site? Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

The view 1.2 km from the surface.

OSIRIS narrow-angle camera shot of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko captured from an altitude of about 1.2 km on 30 September at 10:14 GMT. The image scale is about 2.3 cm/pixel and the image measures about 33 m across.

The crash will have damaged mechanisms on Rosetta and as sunlight will be fading as the comet moves away from the sun, even if the solar panels and other equipment had survived the crash, the panels would not have been able to generate enough power to send any more data back. The scientists took readings all the way down on the descent, and decided not to fire thrusters to slow the descent for fear of the exhaust gases contaminating the readings taken on the way down.

Rosetta was due to touch down / crash at 11.38 BST (GMT +1), but because of the distance of the comet from the earth, confirmation took just over 40 minutes to get here, reaching us at 12.19 BST.

A fabulous end to an amazing mission. Space science at its best, indeed.

European Space Agency (ESA) Rosetta blog.

Philae has woken up!

Ah, this is great news. The European Space Agency‘s lander on (deep breath) Comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko has woken from its sleep. It landed on the surface of the comet last November, launched from the space probe Rosetta, but bounced on landing after its anchoring mechanisms failed, and ended up in a deeply-shaded ditch. As its solar panels didn’t then receive enough sunlight to generate power, it went into hibernation after sending back a small amount of information. However, the comet has since moved closer to the sun and is receiving more sunlight, and as the scientists had hoped, Philae has started working again and is able to send messages back to earth, via Rosetta, which is still orbiting the comet.

The surface of the comet photographed from Philae during its descent.

The surface of the comet photographed by Philae during its descent.

Yay! So exciting! Lots of fantastic science experiments to come. Drilling! Analysing! Hurrah!

Sleep tight, Philae

Almost a week on from the excitement of Philae’s landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov—Gerasimenko, and the dust has settled, just about (damn low gravity on that there comet). What a rollercoaster ride. My live feed to ESA decided to cut out right at the very moment that the landing was confirmed, so I missed the punch-the-air happy moment, but it was still such a wow-wow-wow moment, learning of the touchdown via ESA’s twitter feed rather than seeing and hearing about it. So fantastic. And then came the delay in getting the photos of the comet’s surface that we had been promised not long after Philae had touched down. Something was up, but ESA wasn’t telling, for a while at least. Then came the news that the scientists thought the harpoons hadn’t secured Philae to the surface—we already knew that the booster that would help force the probe on to the surface wasn’t going to work—and it might have bounced.

Photo taken by Philae from about 40m above the surface of the comet, just prior to Phiale's landing.

Photo taken by Philae from about 40 metres above the surface of the comet, just prior to Philae’s landing.

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X marks the spot: Philae’s initial landing place on the comet.

Philae's initial landing place on the comet, before the first of its tow bounces. She was right on target.

Philae’s initial landing place on the comet, before the first of its two bounces.  In the right hand shot, Philae and its shadow can be seen on the surface.

The next morning came the news that it had indeed bounced – twice. The gravity is so low on the comet’s surface that the first bounce is thought to have been in the region of 1 km high.

Philae landing on the comet, taken from Rosetta.

Philae’s first bounce, taken from Rosetta.

Then came pictures of the surface. Staggering shots, the first ever showing a close up of the surface of a comet. But the scientists still didn’t know where exactly on the comet Philae was.

The fiorst image sent back by Philae from the surface of the comet. The lander's leg is in the bottom right corner.

The first image sent back by Philae from the surface of the comet. Part of the lander can be seen in the foreground.

Then came the news that Philae had landed with one of its legs up in the air, and in shadow for much of the time. Not good news for either its stability (needed for the scientific tests) or more importantly for its life – if it didn’t get sun, the solar panels would not be able to recharge the batteries and the probe would shut down.

Panoramic image series taken by Philae, with a sketch of the lander itself superimposed indicating its probable orientation.

Panoramic image series taken by Philae, with a sketch of the lander itself superimposed indicating its probable orientation.

Then Philae’s location was established. Time was running out, and the scientists decided to run the tests and hope that Philae would have enough power to get the results back to Rosetta, for it to send the data back to us. Success!

And then Philae ran out of power, and shut down.

In its journey around the sun, there may come a time when the sun falls on Philae and it awakens and can talk to us and hopefully perform more science tasks. Rosetta will be accompanying the comet on its travels, and so will be able to send messages to and from earth. There is a plan to land Rosetta on the comet when its useful life is done: a fitting grave, close to little Philae. Together they will wander through the solar system, on their long orbit around the sun. I love this thought. It reminds me a little of the ending of one of my favourite films, Dark Star.

So much amazing science, such a tremendous achievement, such a heart-stopping few days full of highs and lows. Wow, what a great, great week for science.

Update: organic molecules have been detected by Philae on the surface of the comet!

Philae has landed!

So, so happy right now. Philae is safely down on the surface of the comet, “Its landing gear has been drawn back into the lander and it is sitting on the surface!” “It’s talking to us”.

Just waiting now for the first photos from the surface …

Such a massive, extraordinary achievement. I can’t say how proud I am of all the ESA scientists and engineers and others involved.

Shortly after parting from Rosetta, the lander Philae took a shot of its mothership., Rosetta, here seen above the sun flare.

Shortly after parting from Rosetta, the lander Philae took a shot of its mothership, Rosetta, here seen above the sun flare.

Philae soon after separation, photographed from Rosetta.

Philae soon after separation, photographed from Rosetta.

Philae on its way, photographed from Rosetta.

Philae on its way, photographed from Rosetta.

Last shot of Philae from Rosetta.

Last shot of Philae from Rosetta.

Before today, humankind had landed spacecraft on only six other celestial bodies: the moon, Mars, Venus, Titan (one of Saturn’s moons) and two asteroids.* This is the seventh. An amazing, stunning, superb achievement. Congratulations.

* (in 2005 NASA’s Deep Impact mission intentionally crashed an impactor into comet Tempel 1 in order to study the resulting debris cloud; it doesn’t quite count as a ‘soft landing’, and no data was sent back from the surface of the comet). 

Philae countdown begins

The countdown for the release of the Philae probe from the Rosetta spacecraft, and its 7 hour journey down to the surface of comet Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, has begun. This is a historic and quite mind-boggling mission. Rosetta, the European Space Agency’s robotic spacecraft, spent the last 10 years travelling from earth to to rendezvous with the comet. It then spent a few months in orbit around the c. 6 km long comet, mapping its terrain to establish the likely safest landing place for Philae, the probe it is carrying.

But not for much longer! If all goes to plan, at around 8.35 am GMT/UTC tomorrow, Philae will separate from Rosetta and head off down to the surface of the comet. The descent will take some seven hours. Once it makes touchdown, it will secure itself to the icy surface of the comet using harpoons and screws. The signal that the mission has succeeded should be received back on earth at about 4.00 pm GMT/UTC the same day.

The targeted landing place on . Photo by ESA.

The targeted landing place for the Philae probe on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Photo by ESA, taken from Rosetta.

The risks are great—Philae may not even touch down on the comet. It may make a bad landing and fall over, and it has no means of righting itself should this happen.

If it does succeed, it will then commence the varied scientific analyses it is equipped for. First and foremost, it will photograph its landing spot. This will be the first ever photograph taken on the surface of a comet. Amazing!

Jagged terrain on the comet. Not the landing spot!

Jagged terrain on the comet. Not the landing spot!

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More rough terrain on the comet. Also not the landing spot!

Much smoother terrain on the comet. Not the landing spot, but the sort of place that has been chosen, with fewer obstacles.

Much smoother terrain on the comet. Not the landing spot, but similar to the sort of place that has been chosen, with fewer obstacles.

The BBC has provided a schedule of tomorrow’s activities (all times in GMT/UTC):

  • Rosetta delivery manoeuvre – shortly after 06:00
  • Latest Go/No-go decision – before 07:35
  • Philae separates from Rosetta – 08:35
  • Confirmation signal at Earth of separation – 09:03
  • Rosetta’s post-delivery manoeuvre – 09:15
  • Radio connection established – 10:30
  • First data from descending Philae after 12:00
  • Landing of Philae on 67P – after 15:30
  • Confirmation signal at Earth – around 16:00

There is a much more detailed one at ESA’s website.

I will be watching and waiting with bated breath. The landing is being broadcast live by ESA: it can be viewed here, right now!

Rosetta and the comet

From soft warm landing places for a cat to cold, hopefully not-too hard ones for scientific probes: Rosetta sent back this image on 26 October, taken from a distance of about 7.8 km from the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by NAVCAM, its on-board navigation camera.

The surface of

The surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, photographed from Rosetta. Photo by ESA, 26 October 2014.

The total area shown in this mosaic photo made up of four separate frames is approximately 1,200 metres x 1,350 metres. It shows part of the larger of the two lobes that make up the comet; the scientific probe Philae will be landing on the other, smaller lobe, but in a similarly ‘featureless’ area, if all goes well.

Philae’s landing is scheduled for Wednesday 12 November 2014. Philae will separate from Rosetta at 09.03 GMT; the descent will take some 7 hours. The signal confirming touchdown is expected to be received on earth at round about 16.00 GMT that day. I’ll be following it with bated breath.

Comet probe landing date set

Clear your calendars! The date has been set—the NASA Philae landing probe from the European Space Agency Rosetta space satellite will attempt to land on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Wednesday 12 November. With any luck the lander will successfully touch down at around 15:35 GMT, with confirmation due to arrive some time after 16.00 GMT.

Comet

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Photo by Rosetta / ESA.

The landing site, known as ‘J’, has been carefully selected out of a shortlist of five potential sites. It is on the smaller of the comet’s two lobes (the head of the rubber duck).

Landing site J.

Landing site J. Photo by Rosetta / ESA.

There is a high risk involved in such a tricky procedure. If successful, the lander will screw itself into position and then undertake some scientific analyses of the surface chemistry, drilling for samples and analysing them in an onboard laboratory. The scientists do not expect Philae to last much beyond next March as it will fail at some point due to overheating. Rosettta will stay in orbit for a year, sending back information as the comet moves in its elliptical orbit around the sun. Exciting (and nailbiting) times ahead. THE BBC article carries this caveat: The timings mentioned on this page carry some uncertainty and would change if subsequent mapping shows the J site to have a major problem, with Esa forced to shift its attention to the back-up destination, C.