The Rosetta probe has woken up ...

[Lukraak_Sisser]

I'll get worried when the scientists shoot themselves shouting 'oh gods, the stars were right and IT is hatching!!!'

 

[MG1962]

I know everyone is super excited about the landing, but the part I am most fascinated by is the attended orbital probe is going to accompany the comet as it passes through perihelion and come out the other side.

The knowledge we will gain from that is going to take years to process

 

[foophil]

I didn't see this mentioned before:

http://www.cnet.com/news/rosettas-comet-is-singing-and-it-sounds-totally-bizarre/

There is a link at the bottom to play the audio - it sounds pretty freaky, though that isn't what it actually sounds like in the traditional sense. I like how we are in the process of answering some questions and coming up with new ones due to complete surprises like this.

 

[Denver]

The anchors didn't shoot. Sounds like they can still shoot them. Otherwise a stiff breeze could blow the lander off the comet.

Maybe they did fire and the telemetry is just wrong.

But I'm wondering how could it fall off? Maybe since the comet is not really all that solid, then the shifting, or even reshaping, of the comet could nudge it out.

Also if they do fire the harpoons, I hope it doesn't risk an action-reaction thing.

 

[MG1962]

Maybe they did fire and the telemetry is just wrong.

But I'm wondering how could it fall off? Maybe since the comet is not really all that solid, then the shifting, or even reshaping, of the comet could nudge it out.

Also if they do fire the harpoons, I hope it doesn't risk an action-reaction thing.

As the comet begins to out gas there are going to be small shifts in vector. With the gravity so small it would be easy for the probe to simply float away

 

[Denver]

Yeah I wondered it would be something like that.
I hope they accelerate their experiment's schedule then.

 

[a_unique_person]

Congratulations.

 

[a_unique_person]

As the comet begins to out gas there are going to be small shifts in vector. With the gravity so small it would be easy for the probe to simply float away

I think they said that most of the surface experiments won't take too long. They always assumed the situation would be unstable anyway.

 

[MG1962]

I think they said that most of the surface experiments won't take too long. They always assumed the situation would be unstable anyways.

From what I read there main concern was heat from the sun will eventually destroy the lander - I want to say the time line is about 3 months but dont quote me on that

 

[Daylightstar]

Yes, that has been added. Unfortunately, the original is in Braunschweig and I am in Graz. I think it is supposed to be quadrophenic even, so you can hear Rosetta fly around you.

The audio in the blog you linked is at leat an interesting way to draw attention to the original data

 

[SusanB-M1]

I think the landing is a hoax.

 

[alexi_drago]

As the comet begins to out gas there are going to be small shifts in vector. With the gravity so small it would be easy for the probe to simply float away

The article i read seemed to suggest the lander has some sort of screw that its used to attach itself.

 

[NoahFence]

The article i read seemed to suggest the lander has some sort of screw that its used to attach itself.

From what I understand, it has both the screws and the harpoon. It appears the screws are intact and working as expected but the harpoon isn't?

 

[foophil]

Does it start beaming a signal as soon as it lands or does it have to check its's till in one piece first? Also, does it beam signals up to the mother ship and from there to us or does it transmit direct? And what if it's on the far side of the comet? Will there be a six hour period of silence? And sorry to get really basic, but how the heck do we pick up a reedy little radio signal from 30 light minutes away anyway (300 million miles or so?)?

I think some of this has been answered already. To clarify though:

The signal was in a 40 minute buffer/loop on the lander, and upon touchdown, was sending out the data from the buffer to the 'mother ship'. That data obviously arrived back here and is being looked over.

The lander does beam its data up to the mother ship, which then sends it back to Earth. There are indeed black out periods when the lander loses sight of the mother ship. No worries as there is a buffer like I just mentioned.

I'll let someone else go into detail on the signal question. I've read about it in the past, specifically with how we are still communicating with the Voyager probes all these years later. Basically, it is very precisely pointed at the dishes on Earth, using a frequency not in heavy use here that can easily penetrate the atmosphere.

 

[spin0]

Said in the latest briefing: "We didn't land once, we landed twice!"

Some of the telemetry indicates that Philae slowly bounced once.

Next briefing tomorrow @14:00 CET

 

[Belz...]

I'm listening to the speeches. Why are there so many foreigners involved in this? America has certainly changed since Apollo.

Yeah, with all those non-foreign Germans working on that and all...

 

[Duffy Moon]

They always assumed the situation would be unstable anyway.

It knows we're here to kill it.

 

[anglolawyer]

I think some of this has been answered already. To clarify though:

The signal was in a 40 minute buffer/loop on the lander, and upon touchdown, was sending out the data from the buffer to the 'mother ship'. That data obviously arrived back here and is being looked over.

The lander does beam its data up to the mother ship, which then sends it back to Earth. There are indeed black out periods when the lander loses sight of the mother ship. No worries as there is a buffer like I just mentioned.

I'll let someone else go into detail on the signal question. I've read about it in the past, specifically with how we are still communicating with the Voyager probes all these years later. Basically, it is very precisely pointed at the dishes on Earth, using a frequency not in heavy use here that can easily penetrate the atmosphere.

Gadzooks. Thanks.

 

[GlennB]

A BBC report is suggesting it might still be bouncing, or hovering, or something:

A European robot probe has made the first, historic landing on a comet, but its status remains uncertain after harpoons failed to anchor it to the surface.
Officials said the craft may have lifted off the comet after touchdown before returning to the surface.
......
But then Dr Ulamec delivered the bad news. He said telemetry from the craft suggested it may have drifted off the surface after landing and started to turn. This subsequently came to an end, which Dr Ulamec interpreted as a possible "second landing" on Comet 67P.


A little confusing, though maybe it's just a media source hyping things up. We shall see

 

[davefoc]

[see above]

I interpreted the article to mean that there was some concern but now it is over since the lander has stopped moving. I hope my understanding was correct.

It sounds like the gravity is so weak on the comet that almost anything could cause the lander to drift off the surface if it wasn't attached so I hope the screws worked.

It could be a tough decision as to whether to attempt to refire the harpoon. Maybe the best idea is to leave well enough alone. I wonder if the cause of the harpoon not firing is similar to the cause of the charge designed to push the lander down not firing. It is a pretty big coincidence that the two things to fail so far are somewhat similar in nature.