The Rosetta probe has woken up ...

[Sockor]

Comet 67P "Chug", formerly known as Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

 

[pgwenthold]

I think we should call it Olaf.

Yeah! Why?

 

[GlennB]

Is that weird shape going to affect landing efforts? What's the main axis of rotation? Can the probe cope? Go probe!

 

[tusenfem]

The rotational period of the comet is 12.something hours, the rotation axis can be seen in the movie that was posted on the ESA-Rosetta blog.
The Philae team is now working with an updated model of the comet to look for landing sites and windows, however, there is still enough place to land.
The landing itself will take about 30-45 minutes, after Philae is jettisoned from Rosetta, so there can be reasonable targeting to a location on the surface.
However, first, after this wednesday, a complete and detailed map of the comet will be generated by the cameras to determine what location would be best to land on.

 

[tusenfem]

VIRTIS has now measured the overall temperature of the nucleus and found it to be -70 degrees Celcius, brrrrrr
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Rosetta_takes_comet_s_temperature

 

[GlennB]

The rotational period of the comet is 12.something hours, the rotation axis can be seen in the movie that was posted on the ESA-Rosetta blog.
The Philae team is now working with an updated model of the comet to look for landing sites and windows, however, there is still enough place to land.
The landing itself will take about 30-45 minutes, after Philae is jettisoned from Rosetta, so there can be reasonable targeting to a location on the surface.
However, first, after this wednesday, a complete and detailed map of the comet will be generated by the cameras to determine what location would be best to land on.

Thanks as always for your input. meanwhile - "harpoons in space" :

 

[spin0]

500 km and closing: http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2014/08/03/cometwatch-2-august/

NAVCAM image:

 

[spin0]

NAVCAM image from yesterday @234 km:

Tomorrow is the (first) big day - Rosetta's rendezvous with the comet. Final burn of about 1 m/s will slow Rosetta and set it onto the orbit, or more accurately onto the first arc of the triangle (video).

Livestream starts 6 Aug 08:00 UTC: http://rosetta.esa.int

 

[Beelzebuddy]

Do they expect to have actual video or live pictures from the probe, or is it going to be footage of a "live" computer-simulated display like how most rocket launches are presented these days?

Tomorrow is the (first) big day - Rosetta's rendezvous with the comet. Final burn of about 1 m/s will slow Rosetta and set it onto the orbit, or more accurately onto the first arc of the triangle (video).

Wait a minute... I recognize that comet. Isn't that one of the asteroid models for Kerbal Space Program?

 

[Corsair 115]

Thanks as always for your input. meanwhile - "harpoons in space" :

[qimg]http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/harpoons.png[/qimg]

Or as sung at Luna Park:

We're whalers on the Moon
We carry a harpoon
But there ain't no whales
So we tell tall tales
And sing a whaling tune

 

[Monketi Ghost]

Does that thing have a lava plain?

 

[Lukraak_Sisser]

Maybe it's a dust plain?

 

[GlennB]

Does that thing have a lava plain?

Bottom right it has the MS Windows logo, though the colours have faded over the years.

 

[spin0]

@ESA_Rosetta, 30 min ago

YES @Philae2014! WE’RE HERE!! After 10 years 5 months 4 days we are finally at our destination, #comet #67P

ESA: Rosetta arrives at comet destination

 

[spin0]

Fresh OSIRIS close ups of the comet surface: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Highlights/Postcards_from_Rosetta
(mouse over for image info)

 

[pgwenthold]

For a little perspective, how big is the probe compared to the comet?

 

[steve s]

For a little perspective, how big is the probe compared to the comet?

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28659783

Scroll down and you'll see how big the comet is compared to London. The probe will be but a speck on the comet.

Steve S

 

[pgwenthold]

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28659783

Scroll down and you'll see how big the comet is compared to London. The probe will be but a speck on the comet.

Steve S

So basically, it's like a car in London?

(edited: switched "bus" to "car")

 

[spin0]

Rosetta and the lander Philae are indeed tiny compared to the comet (roughly 5 by 3 km).

Animation loop of the NAVCAM images taken during the approach shows the rotating comet and its shape: http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2014/08/NavCam_animation_6_August

Animation from the DLR (German space agency) shows possible Philae landing sites (green dots):


ETA: How to pronounce comet's name 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko: Comet what?

YT link fixed, thank you guys.

 

[phunk]

Animation from the DLR (German space agency) shows possible Philae landing sites (green dots):

Fixed yt tags.