Philae Landing on Comet

[Caruso]

The Rosetta probe is due to launch it's Philae lander to comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko this Wednesday.

Separation should occur at about 08:35 GMT. Touchdown is expected roughly seven hours later. With the time it takes signals to reach Earth we should know just after 4pm what the outcome is.

I for one wish the ESA good luck on this unprecedented landing.

[scubadude]

I expect alot of people at ESA will be off on Thursday from Finger Crossing injuries. Its an audacious landing, they really have no idea if it will be able to "land" but I hope they pull it off.

[marksx]

I really hope this works, but I do have a vision of it bouncing off the comet and drifting away into space.

Hopefully I will be wrong!

If successful it will be an incredible achievement.

[Simpo Two]

Harpoon, that's what it needs...

Gravity eh? Always too much or not enough.

[Caruso]

ESA officials say all's looking good for a landing on Wednesday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-2999...

Article said:

Philae should touch the surface with a velocity of about 1 metre per second.

Foot screws and harpoons will hopefully lock it down. A small gas thruster will push the probe into the surface to give these mechanisms time to work.

[marksx]

marksx said:

I really hope this works, but I do have a vision of it bouncing off the comet and drifting away into space.

Hopefully I will be wrong!

If successful it will be an incredible achievement.

I'm glad I was proven wrong!

Fantastic achievement.

[Bill]

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...