The Rosetta probe has woken up ...

[ceptimus]

It has some kind of spinning flywheel/gyroscope that was used to keep it the right way up during its descent - in the very low gravity that may be enough to roll it over.

They can also activate the drill which again may be enough to move it.

I think the plan is to gather as much scientific information as possible with the lander in its current position for the next 24 hours and then make some kind of attempt to move the lander while there is still some battery capacity available.

 

[Sherman Bay]

I liked the idea of putting a phone type vibrator in the lander but more for the purpose of implementing a method whereby the lander could move across the surface. The way the ones of those work that I am familiar with is that they rotate an eccentric weight with a small motor. I am thinking of just enough motion to lift the lander slightly off the surface and then perhaps a little puff from a thruster could get it to move.

Just keep in mind that the whole package weighs about as much as a piece of paper does on Earth. It might be easier to get it "airborne" than landed again.

 

[anglolawyer]

There are ideas to use some of the moving instruments to get the lander of the ground and reposition it. Some more information here:

http://www.newscientist.com/article...RSS|NSNS|2012-GLOBAL|online-news#.VGT-0PPn-Uk

The article also details how ESA is looking for the lander on images taken from Rosetta. Apparently there is just barely enough resolution, with the vehicle possibly showing up as 9 pixels.

Thanks.

Maybe they could outsource finding the nine pixels to the people of Planet Earth. There are 7 billion of us. We can take 100 pixels each.

This thread continues to be the best source of information about the Rosetta that I've found. It seems like the cumulative effort of the people in thread to find the most interesting articles and images is doing a better job than any of the other sites I've found.
It doesn't seem like the screws on the legs have been talked about for awhile. Did they attempt to deploy them and they're not working? Are they not deploying them because they still hope to move the lander? Maybe they're not deploying them because of the odd angle the lander is at?

One thing that surprises me a bit is there wasn't some sort of mechanism in place that could be used to right the lander. I'm thinking of radio controlled cars that have a mechanism to upright themselves so you don't need to walk out and retrieve them after they've crashed.

I liked the idea of putting a phone type vibrator in the lander but more for the purpose of implementing a method whereby the lander could move across the surface. The way the ones of those work that I am familiar with is that they rotate an eccentric weight with a small motor. I am thinking of just enough motion to lift the lander slightly off the surface and then perhaps a little puff from a thruster could get it to move.

ISF at its best.

 

[NoahFence]

https://twitter.com/ESA_Rosetta/status/532833867817033728/photo/1

I continue to be more amazed every time I see something about this

http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/...omet/15048351-1-eng-GB/Welcome_to_a_comet.jpg

 

[Denver]

Any idea what the black voids are? Dark parts of the landscape, or the sky?

 

[Olowkow]

With gravity that low, wouldn't it be feasible to strap a cellphone vibrator to Philae, such that if it landed on its side or even upside down, it could buzz its way back up and try falling again? I'm thinking of something that works like click beetles here on Earth.

Or is the probe fragile to the point that even brushing contact with a hard surface could cause significant damage?

I think that works on earth because of a hefty gravitational field, but they could get someone on the ISS to try it out during one of their routine orbital corrections. Might work?

This thread continues to be the best source of information about the Rosetta that I've found. It seems like the cumulative effort of the people in thread to find the most interesting articles and images is doing a better job than any of the other sites I've found.

Lots of misinformation out there too. Like 80,000 mph, instead of 80 miles/second. 7 hours light time for signals, instead of 28 minutes.

It doesn't seem like the screws on the legs have been talked about for awhile. Did they attempt to deploy them and they're not working? Are they not deploying them because they still hope to move the lander? Maybe they're not deploying them because of the odd angle the lander is at?

One thing that surprises me a bit is there wasn't some sort of mechanism in place that could be used to right the lander. I'm thinking of radio controlled cars that have a mechanism to upright themselves so you don't need to walk out and retrieve them after they've crashed.

I liked the idea of putting a phone type vibrator in the lander but more for the purpose of implementing a method whereby the lander could move across the surface. The way the ones of those work that I am familiar with is that they rotate an eccentric weight with a small motor. I am thinking of just enough motion to lift the lander slightly off the surface and then perhaps a little puff from a thruster could get it to move.

ESA should have consulted with ISF members to be sure they didn't forget anything. I believe the thruster is in the top, and was for the purpose of countering the force of the harpoons. I heard that they now believe that the reason the harpoons did not fire could be that it touched down on such a spongy surface that it did not trigger the landing detector. That is, the legs were not pushed up enough because the surface was very resilient.

Any idea what the black voids are? Dark parts of the landscape, or the sky?

I'm pretty sure the dark parts are just shadows due to the high contrast nature of the photos, i.e. part of the comet not holes.

 

[SezMe]

That's what happens when you don't choose alkaline the Energizer Bunny.

FTFY

 

[Olowkow]

Another good source for all things cosmological and astronomical is one of my favorite podcasts, ABC StarStuff. Very well done interviews.

A nice summary here:Touchdown! Philae lands on comet › StarStuff (ABC Science)

ETA: Latest from BBC.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30034060

 

[Pixel42]

It was only a matter of time, I suppose.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/...der-alien-cover-up-conspiracy-theories-emerge

Philae comet lander alien ‘cover-up’ conspiracy theories emerge

Probe landing attracts allegations that 67P is not a comet but alien object kept secret by Nasa and European Space Agency

 

[anglolawyer]

Holy cow!

From today's Guardian

Conspiracy theories
You’ve been observing our Earth
As with everything from the moon landing to the death of Elvis, an alternative version of “what really happened” as the Philae probe landed on comet 67P did not take long to emerge.
According to an email published on the UFOSightingsDaily.com website – which does a regular trade in alien sightings – this mission is part of a European Space Agency and Nasa cover-up to disguise the comet’s true alien nature. The email, allegedly from a secret whistle-blowing ESA employee, accuses the agency of “blatant cover-ups” in wanting to land on the comet and attaches photos which claim to reveal the “true inner workings of Comet 67P”. It states: “Do not think for ONE MOMENT that a space agency would suddenly decide to spend billions of dollars to build and send a spacecraft on a 12-year journey to simply take some close-up images of a randomly picked comet floating in space.”
“Comet 67P is NOT a comet,” the letter continues. “Some 20 years ago Nasa began detecting radio bursts from an unknown origin out in space. It would later be known that these had likely come from the direction of the now named comet 67P. It does show signs on its outside of machine like parts and unnatural terrain.”
Ending on an ominous note, it adds: “Whatever this object is, it did not ask to be found or scrutinised.”
Yet this is far from the only extra-terrestrial conspiracy theory. In September, BPEarthWatch published a video showing “brand new, hi-res” images. Taken from the Rosetta spacecraft, they appeared to show two UFOs flying over the comet and a transmission tower-like structure built on the surface, potentially emitting the mysterious radio signals which have been picked by the ESA.
ESA’s confirmation that the comet had been emitting a “mystery song” – caused by oscillations in its electrically charged atmosphere – has fuelled theories that it is in fact an alien ship and the warbling is an extra-terrestrial attempt at communication.

ETA Ninja'd by Pixel

 

[Tolls]

Any idea what the black voids are? Dark parts of the landscape, or the sky?

If they're correct and the lander is on its side, then that foot you can see is not stood on anything, so I'm guessing the black is the "sky".

Tilt the picture 90 degrees clockwise and you'll see that the rock (currently) on the left is not a cliff, but the ground. That's if it's correct Philae is on its side. Which would also explain why the screws haven't gone in anywhere.

 

[a_unique_person]

A little disappointing, but still an amazing achievement. We still have Rosetta functioning perfectly and Philae will have work it will still be able to do.

 

[SezMe]

If they're correct and the lander is on its side, then that foot you can see is not stood on anything, so I'm guessing the black is the "sky".

Tilt the picture 90 degrees clockwise and you'll see that the rock (currently) on the left is not a cliff, but the ground. That's if it's correct Philae is on its side. Which would also explain why the screws haven't gone in anywhere.

Yeah, the black is the sky. But I've rotated the image 90 clockwise. So help me. The foot is pointing to the left ... into space? The bright rocky area is a wall that the camera is facing? Can the camera pan to give a different perspective? Or does that take too much energy?

TIA

 

[Tolls]

The rocky area (I think) is the ground.
Though it's hard to say what counts as ground on something that's an odd shape.

I could be wrong, though. I often am...

 

[Wolrab]

In another thread I realized all they have to do is reverse the polarity of the lander. The massive charges will repel, then reverse polarity again and it will descend and stick where they want it...or fire the harpoons upward to act as a tether and gather power from the voltage differences...or just plug right in the the electric comet...


I am soooo sorry.

 

[a_unique_person]

Race is on to get the tests done and hopefully improve location before the batteries run out, according to this and other stories.

http://www.space.com/27774-philae-comet-landing-drill-battery.html

 

[a_unique_person]

In another thread I realized all they have to do is reverse the polarity of the lander. The massive charges will repel, then reverse polarity again and it will descend and stick where they want it...or fire the harpoons upward to act as a tether and gather power from the voltage differences...or just plug right in the the electric comet...


I am soooo sorry.

I think they should try metric instead of imperial.

 

[crescent]

I think they should try metric instead of imperial.

Just don't cross the beams. Bad things would happen, very bad things.

 

[a_unique_person]

it has run out of battery power now, and is waiting to recharge them. However, it has drilled a hole into the surface and sent back results.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The Energizer bunny is en route to 67P as we speak.