Video: ESA space probe Philae makes comet landing for first time in history! Robot not firmly anchored

A European robot probe named Philae made a remarkable landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) on Wednesday, achieving thus a record in the space history, announced the European Space Agency ESA. Philae is not tightly anchored to the comet as the harpoons failed to work but engineers at the European Space Agency (ESA) are now trying to reactivate them to prevent spacecraft’s detachment (scroll for video). After leaving the mothership Rosetta and touching down, Philae may have lifted off surface before returning to it, ESA scientists said at a press conference.

Comet landing Philae probe Rosetta mission

Photo of Comet 67P taken by Philae probe during final approach (Credit: ESA)

“So maybe we didn’t land once — we landed twice,” Philae lander manager Stephan Ulamec said. “Did we land in a soft sand box or is there something else happening? We don’t fully understand what happened.”
After getting on the surface, the robot tweeted: “Touchdown! My new address: 67P!” Later, it tweeted again: “I’m on the surface but my harpoons did not fire.”

“We have to assess the situation. I do not know exactly where and how Philae landed. In a few hours, we will collect more data ,” added Ulamec.

The first landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was reported at 17:03 CET (16:03 GMT).

Philae – first photo. The first picture taken by Philae while descending to the comet was published by ESA. The image was snapped by robot’s ROLIS instrument about 3 km above the surface of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
Video: ESA and Rosetta team announce Philae first landing on comet 67P/C-G

Rosetta mission
The spaceship is named after the Rosetta Stone, an inscribed piece of volcanic rock found in Egypt in 1799 that that allowed scientists to decipher hieroglyphics and thus understand the ancient Egyptian culture, ESA said. The lander is named after an island in the Nile River where an obelisk was found that helped decipher the Rosetta Stone, ESA said.

“Our ambitious Rosetta mission has secured a place in the history books: not only is it the first to rendezvous with and orbit a comet, but it is now also the first to deliver a lander to a comet’s surface,” Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s director general, said in an article posted on the ESA website.
Many people, and not just the ones who work for ESA, are excited about what kind of information Philae will deliver.

Comet 67P/C-G shown by Philae image during descent on 12 November 2014 at 14:38:41 UT, from a distance of approximately 3 km from the surface. The landing site is imaged with a resolution of about 3m per pixel. (Credits: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS/DLR)

Comet 67P/C-G shown by Philae image during descent on 12 November 2014 at 14:38:41 UT, from a distance of approximately 3 km from the surface. The landing site is imaged with a resolution of about 3m per pixel. (Credits: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS/DLR)


“Rosetta is trying to answer the very big questions about the history of our Solar System,” Matt Taylor, ESA Rosetta project scientist, said in the article on the ESA website. “What were the conditions like at its infancy and how did it evolve? What role did comets play in this evolution? How do comets work?”
And science fiction writer Alastair Reynolds said: “This is science fiction made real in terms of the achievement of the mission itself, but Rosetta is also taking us a step closer to answering science fiction’s grandest question of all: Are we alone?”
Save time and generic cialis buy money by ordering from our convenient, discreet and in-expensive Indian online pharmacy. Smoking clogs erectile arteries, making the blood flow by dilating the arteries, which amends erection quality buy viagra and proper blood flow avoids heart problems. Drinking healing mineral water may promote elimination of the PDE5 cialis uk enzymes & leads for the unblocking of the clogged routes of the male reproductive organ. lowest cost viagra A natural product is offered by Botaniex with Passion X.
Rosetta took off from Earth 10 years ago carrying Philae and traveled 6.4 billion miles before arriving in early August at the comet.

The Philae lander separated from the mother ship Rosetta around 3:30 a.m. ET Wednesday and landed on the comet seven hours later.

Specifications:
Philae lander
Travelled 6.4 billion km (four billion miles) to reach the comet
Journey took 10 years
Planning for the journey began 25 years ago
Comet 67P
More than four billion years old
Mass of 10 billion tonnes
Hurtling through space at 18km/s (40,000mph)
Shaped like a rubber duck.

Video highlights: Rosetta comet landing mission up to Philae’s split from main craft

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.