The Descent of Philae Toward the Comet
On Wednesday, at 4:05 a.m. Eastern time,
the 220-pound lander, named Philae, detached from the Rosetta
spacecraft and was pulled downward by the gravity of the comet, known as
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Signals from Rosetta will take nearly 30
minutes to travel more than 300 million miles to mission control in
Darmstadt, Germany.
The module Philae sent the first shot taken from the surface of comet 67 / P Churyumov - Gerasimenko , confirming that is safe and stable after a complex landing.
The European Space Agency (ESA ) today sent the first photo Philae has made since the comet's surface after landing.
The European Space Agency (ESA ) today sent the first photo Philae has made since the comet's surface after landing.
In the picture you can see that the module Philae is safely on the surface of 67 / P Churyumov - Gerasimenko .The ESA today offer more information at a press conference at 13:00 GMT after analyzing the data it has already sent the lander .
The head of the Department of Earth Systems Engineering from the European Space Agency (ESA ), Juan Miró, told EFE that communication remains Philae and is stable , and that's what matters most.
Now you also have to see if Philae receives enough solar energy to continue trading.
He described the landing looked " very good ", " perfect from the point of view of history ," but then bounced to not activate the harpoons .
" The signal is received on time , he suddenly lost and then returned ," said Miro.
He confirmed that the landing maneuver , two harpoons with which Philae had to engage the surface of the comet , not activated and the module system for stamping on the comet did not work either .
Philae bounced twice fell to the surface , bounced , and bounced back down again, according to the head of the Department of Systems Engineering ESA ground .
Besides harpoons , another system was not activated , it is the Active Descent System : a reservoir of cold gas to much pressure I had to get up and push Philae to the ground , according Miro.
However , this system was not critical , as the deputy director of central operations control in Darmstadt ( Germany).
The mother Rosetta probe launched yesterday module Philae comet when he was still at a distance of 22 kilometers.
The small laboratory , the size of a refrigerator and 98 kilograms, landed seven hours later on the comet to study its composition because comets are the oldest in the universe and celestial bodies considered that may have brought water and life Earth at the time of the big bang.
Besides harpoons , another system was not activated , it is the Active Descent System : a reservoir of cold gas to much pressure I had to get up and push Philae to the ground , according Miro.
However , this system was not critical , as the deputy director of central operations control in Darmstadt ( Germany).
The mother Rosetta probe launched yesterday module Philae comet when he was still at a distance of 22 kilometers.
The small laboratory , the size of a refrigerator and 98 kilograms, landed seven hours later on the comet to study its composition because comets are the oldest in the universe and celestial bodies considered that may have brought water and life Earth at the time of the big bang.
First postcard just after separation
See for yourself! ROLIS imaged when we were just 3km away! Glad I can share
No comments:
Post a Comment