The Rosetta probe has woken up ...

[gambling_cruiser]

look up rosetta spacecraft on wiki.
The german version of wiki has better graphics of the journey.

 

[tusenfem]

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.

These are magnetometer measurements, in which we see very nice harmonic waves, which stand out in the power spectrum. Although the waves stand out, they have been band-pass filtered to make them more clear. The frequency is around 40 mHz, which was sent to a tone generator. And then a German musician turned it into a bit more arty style.

We are about >-< this far explaining these waves. It is something very new, not seen at any other comet, but we have not seen any other comet this early in its activity stage. Hopefully a Science paper early next year.

 

[Pixel42]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30034060

The robot probe Philae that made a historic comet landing is now stable after initially failing to attach to the surface, the BBC has learnt.

Pictures are coming back from the craft as scientists debate how to proceed.

European Space Agency engineers working on the lander say it may have bounced hundreds of metres back up off the surface after first touching down.[...]

Controllers have now re-established radio communication with the probe and are retrieving pictures from it.

These show the feet of the lander and the wider cometscape.

There is still concern about the longer-term stability of Philae because it is not properly anchored - the harpoons that should have hooked it into the surface did not fire on contact.

It was always going to be a case of getting as much information as possible as quickly as possible as the lander wasn't expected to survive beyond March, as the comet's surface gets more active as it approaches the sun. My guess is they'll gather as much info as they can for a day or two before they risk trying to fire the harpoons again.

 

[a_unique_person]

It's a shame we have to hire talent from other countries. What's happened to our education system when the US can't even produce second-rate space engineers?

Still, I'm glad they didn't have to harpoon the thing. There would have been no end to the dismay about traveling so far just to kill a comet.

Where do you think the engineers came from for the rocket program in the first place.

 

[SezMe]

My guess is they'll gather as much info as they can for a day or two before they risk trying to fire the harpoons again.

The harpoons can be refired? I would have thought that was a one-shot thing. How many tries do they get?

 

[Pixel42]

The harpoons can be refired? I would have thought that was a one-shot thing. How many tries do they get?

They were talking yesterday about trying to fire them again, so I assume there's a command they can send if they don't fire automatically. Whether it would work it another question; AFAIK they don't yet understand why they didn't fire automatically.

 

[Verklagekasper]

"Fire harpoons."
"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."

 

[anglolawyer]

Is there a run down somewhere of the tests the lander will perform and what info they are hoping/expecting to get from them? Something intelligible to the non-scientist would be good I can't imagine what these tests could be that would take until March. Surely, it just sticks a couple of probes in the ground, passes the data up to mother and then self destructs. Obviously more to it than that, but what?

 

[Pixel42]

This is the closest I can find to a list of the tests the lander will perform:

http://sci.esa.int/rosetta/31445-instruments/

Note:

The minimum mission target for scientific observations is one week, but surface operations may continue for many months.

The surface will change significantly as it heats up, they'll want to keep making observations for as long as they can I would think.

 

[3point14]

As it turns out, even when they were used correctly they were a bad idea - kids were having hip problems from their legs rotating too early from the weight. Or not rotating enough. One of those.


But anyone who's ever landed a probe on Bop in KSP knows what Philae's gone through: "Oh crap oh crap we just bounced we're in the air again oh crap go back down go down don't tip over DON'T TIP OVERRROOKAY WE'RE SETTLING!"

At this point it's vitally important to inadvertently stage and ruin everything.

 

[anglolawyer]

This is the closest I can find to a list of the tests the lander will perform:

http://sci.esa.int/rosetta/31445-instruments/

Note:



The surface will change significantly as it heats up, they'll want to keep making observations for as long as they can I would think.

Thanks for the link. I have some questions D):

Panoramic and microscopic imaging system

OK, I think this is for looking around (and downwards)

Radio sounding, nucleus tomography

What is this?

Evolved gas analyser - elemental and molecular composition

Again, this is one is sufficiently self explanatory at my level.

Evolved gas analyser - isotopic composition

Ditto

Measurements of surface and subsurface properties

What sort of properties? What it's made of, how dense etc? How old?

Magnetometer and plasma monitor

Plasma?

Drilling and sample retrieval

I am not a complete moron.

Surface Electric Sounding and Acoustic Monitoring Experiment / Comet Acoustic Surface Sounding Experiment

Electric sounding?


Surface Electric Sounding and Acoustic Monitoring Experiment / Dust Impact Monitor

Why two of these?

Surface Electric Sounding and Acoustic Monitoring Experiment / Permittivity Probe

And why three?

 

[Pixel42]

Good questions, none of which I can answer.

We've had occasional contributions to this thread by someone who seems to be a member of the team, maybe he'll pop by and provide some answers eventually, but something tells me he might be a bit busy at the moment.

 

[SezMe]

They were talking yesterday about trying to fire them again, so I assume there's a command they can send if they don't fire automatically. Whether it would work it another question; AFAIK they don't yet understand why they didn't fire automatically.

I see the problem is that they didn't fire at all. I deduce that they are a one-time-only thing but the one-time hasn't been used up yet.

 

[Pixel42]

I see the problem is that they didn't fire at all. I deduce that they are a one-time-only thing but the one-time hasn't been used up yet.

That's what I'm assuming too, yes. My 'again' was referring to the trying, not the firing. The first attempt to fire them was (or should have been) automatic, subsequent attempts will be on command.

 

[tusenfem]

Answers in colour (as far as I have them)

Thanks for the link. I have some questions D):

Panoramic and microscopic imaging system

OK, I think this is for looking around (and downwards)

Microscopic is not just looking downwards, but on very small scale to see what the grains on the surface look like.

Radio sounding, nucleus tomography

What is this?

This is what e.g. happens in a hospital when you get am MRI. On Philae there is a receiver of the instrument "Concert" and on Rosetta there is an emitter. They use radio waves that are able to penetrate through the comet proper. As the comet is not homogeneous, there will also be reflections inside (e.g. empty spaces). Knowing where Rosetta is, and getting the signal from Philae enables to get a picture of inside the comet, just like an MRI shows a picture of what is inside your body.

Evolved gas analyser - elemental and molecular composition

Again, this is one is sufficiently self explanatory at my level.

Evolved gas analyser - isotopic composition

Ditto

Measurements of surface and subsurface properties

What sort of properties? What it's made of, how dense etc? How old?

One of the things we would like to know is how much and how fast does the radiation of the sun warm the surface and how far does it penetrate into the comet. Therefore there are temperature sensors on the (not-deployed) anchor, which would measure the changing of the temperature along the rod. Also, they want to know the electrical conductivity of the comet and properties like that.

Magnetometer and plasma monitor

Plasma?

Plasma, as in ionized gas. The comet heats up and starts emitting volatiles (water, CO, etc.) which will get ionized because of the solar UV radiation. We want to know how those charged particles behave, what energy they have, if they become somehow accelerated, how the magnetic field interacts with them. Having two places to measure this (Philea on the ground and Rosetta in space) will give us a never-before opportunity of comparing measurements at two locations of the comet simultaneously.

Drilling and sample retrieval

I am not a complete moron.

Surface Electric Sounding and Acoustic Monitoring Experiment / Comet Acoustic Surface Sounding Experiment

Electric sounding?


Surface Electric Sounding and Acoustic Monitoring Experiment / Dust Impact Monitor

Why two of these?

Surface Electric Sounding and Acoustic Monitoring Experiment / Permittivity Probe

And why three?

There are three legs
Basically this is one experiment SESAME. At one leg a self-hammering nail will be driven into the surface of the comet. This creates an "earthquake" (cometquake??) and on the other legs there are receivers. This works just like at Earth where we get information about the inside of the Earth because of seismic signals.
Instead of seismic waves one can also use electromagnetic waves, again emision and reception gives info on the small-scale properties of the comet.
This is in contrast to the "full view" of Concert.
The dust is an extra part, which will analyse the dust particles that are falling back to the surface, and will also land on the analyser.

This in a quick and dirty way.
Now I have to get set up for beaming the press conference on the screen in our lecture hall.

 

[anglolawyer]

Answers in colour (as far as I have them)



This in a quick and dirty way.
Now I have to get set up for beaming the press conference on the screen in our lecture hall.

Thank you tusenfem. We are privileged to have this fascinating information from the horse's mouth.

Would you please accept my order for a box of those self-hammering nails. I am sure they will come in handy in my tool shed. Self-washing dishes too please.

 

[tusenfem]

Oops, I should have said CT scan there, not MRI!!!

I will call ESTEC and see if I can get some nails for you anglolawyer, they are only like a few thousand pounds (£) a piece. We accept all major credit cards.

 

[Beelzebuddy]

Answers in colour (as far as I have them)



This in a quick and dirty way.
Now I have to get set up for beaming the press conference on the screen in our lecture hall.

SESAME?

Has there even been a proposal to have someone at NASA and ESA whose sole responsibility is to slap people who come up with backronyms?

 

[anglolawyer]

Oops, I should have said CT scan there, not MRI!!!

I will call ESTEC and see if I can get some nails for you anglolawyer, they are only like a few thousand pounds (£) a piece. We accept all major credit cards.

LOL - thanks. Put me down for a gross.

 

[Rincewind]

The harpoons can be refired? I would have thought that was a one-shot thing. How many tries do they get?

The problem is that you need to put another coin into the machine....