Discussion
Pesty said:
I love these pictures from Rosetta, it really is the most alien surface we've ever seen, its just a "clump" no erosion, no volcanism etc but still it has so much interesting and varied terrain.
Rosetta has done well but I feel like we have more questions now that before we sent it, we certainly didn't guess right when it came to landing on the surface, 2nd time lucky?
Philae's predicament now reminds me of the Film Dark Star where one of the crew happily rides a cluster of Asteroids for eternity round the universe.....
Quite a decent way to go really. Sat in the shade watching the solar system fly by. Quite fancy the trip myself.. Infinitely better than dribbling my last few years away in the corner of some diabolical care home...
If the orbit is perturbed at some unknown date in the future Philae via it's host could be the first man made object to reach the stars..
Quite a decent way to go really. Sat in the shade watching the solar system fly by. Quite fancy the trip myself.. Infinitely better than dribbling my last few years away in the corner of some diabolical care home...
If the orbit is perturbed at some unknown date in the future Philae via it's host could be the first man made object to reach the stars..
peterperkins said:
Philae's predicament now reminds me of the Film Dark Star where one of the crew happily rides a cluster of Asteroids for eternity round the universe.....
Quite a decent way to go really. Sat in the shade watching the solar system fly by. Quite fancy the trip myself.. Infinitely better than dribbling my last few years away in the corner of some diabolical care home...
If the orbit is perturbed at some unknown date in the future Philae via it's host could be the first man made object to reach the stars..
But Philae (and the comet) will be back in just over 6 years, no doubt changed beyond all recognition after encountering an alien civilisation, and determined to erase humanity from existence.Quite a decent way to go really. Sat in the shade watching the solar system fly by. Quite fancy the trip myself.. Infinitely better than dribbling my last few years away in the corner of some diabolical care home...
If the orbit is perturbed at some unknown date in the future Philae via it's host could be the first man made object to reach the stars..
"Rosetta has completed its final manoeuvre and is now on a collision course with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
The spacecraft will soon take a set of five images with its navigation cameras to confirm that the spacecraft is on target, and to refine the predicted impact time. The next report, with the updated time and at least one of those NAVCAM images, is expected around 0400 UT / 0600 CEST."
The spacecraft will soon take a set of five images with its navigation cameras to confirm that the spacecraft is on target, and to refine the predicted impact time. The next report, with the updated time and at least one of those NAVCAM images, is expected around 0400 UT / 0600 CEST."
One of the technicians explained on Radio 4 this morning why they have to shut Rosetta down just before it touches down -
the mission has ended so it is one of the rules of robotic probe space exploration that the transmitters be shut down once there is no more data to transmit. This is because the band of frequencies used by probes is very narrow and they don't want to clog up the airwaves and compromise the effectiveness of future missions
the mission will end automatically once they touch down because it is highly likely that, once Rosetta settles on the surface, it will sit at an angle that will stop its high gain antenna from pointing at the earth - which means that it could not communicate with earth.
This is why they have to send a signal to shut it down before it lands otherwise they will lose contact and miss the opportunity to send the "shut down" signal.
the mission has ended so it is one of the rules of robotic probe space exploration that the transmitters be shut down once there is no more data to transmit. This is because the band of frequencies used by probes is very narrow and they don't want to clog up the airwaves and compromise the effectiveness of future missions
the mission will end automatically once they touch down because it is highly likely that, once Rosetta settles on the surface, it will sit at an angle that will stop its high gain antenna from pointing at the earth - which means that it could not communicate with earth.
This is why they have to send a signal to shut it down before it lands otherwise they will lose contact and miss the opportunity to send the "shut down" signal.
Eric Mc said:
the mission will end automatically once they touch down because it is highly likely that, once Rosetta settles on the surface, it will sit at an angle that will stop its high gain antenna from pointing at the earth - which means that it could not communicate with earth.
This is why they have to send a signal to shut it down before it lands otherwise they will lose contact and miss the opportunity to send the "shut down" signal.
I read elsewhere that the antenna needed to be within half a degree of accuracy, so highly unlikely to work post-crash; also I think the sensors onboard are designed to shut down automatically on contact anyway. They are hoping for 20/15m altitude imagery, especially of some deep holes near the land sight to get a look 'inside', so I surmise shut down is very, very close to the surface if not on actual impact.This is why they have to send a signal to shut it down before it lands otherwise they will lose contact and miss the opportunity to send the "shut down" signal.
I can just imagine the project management discussions.
Chairman: "OK, it's time to discuss the final stage of the mission."
1st Engineer: "Let's leave it in space for eternity as a tribute to mankind's ingenuity and quest for scientific knowledge."
2nd Engineer: "Let's crash it into the comet!"
All Other Engineers: "YAAY! Crash!"
Chairman: "OK, it's time to discuss the final stage of the mission."
1st Engineer: "Let's leave it in space for eternity as a tribute to mankind's ingenuity and quest for scientific knowledge."
2nd Engineer: "Let's crash it into the comet!"
All Other Engineers: "YAAY! Crash!"
ash73 said:
Makes good sense but they could easily program it to power down x days after touchdown, even without contact, rather than killing it on the way down.
They can't be sure that they maintain contact with the probe once it lands on the surface. The transmissions are spread over a very narrow beam angle so if the surface is not absolutely flat, the transmission dish will be resting at an angle and their is a high possibility that the beam will miss the earth - and transmissions from earth will not be able to reach the probe. The only cautious thing to do is to turn the craft off when they are 100% sure they can communicate with it. And that is what they have done.Halmyre said:
I can just imagine the project management discussions.
Chairman: "OK, it's time to discuss the final stage of the mission."
1st Engineer: "Let's leave it in space for eternity as a tribute to mankind's ingenuity and quest for scientific knowledge."
2nd Engineer: "Let's crash it into the comet!"
All Other Engineers: "YAAY! Crash!"
It's a very slow speed "crash". The impact will be at about 3 mph.Chairman: "OK, it's time to discuss the final stage of the mission."
1st Engineer: "Let's leave it in space for eternity as a tribute to mankind's ingenuity and quest for scientific knowledge."
2nd Engineer: "Let's crash it into the comet!"
All Other Engineers: "YAAY! Crash!"
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