Well, here's wishing them all the success in th... er, out of this world!
Rosetta comet chaser due to wake up for final rendezvous on Monday
Scientists at the European Space Agency and NASA are facing a nervous weekend as the Rosetta spacecraft prepares to power up after three years of hibernation on Monday morning. Rosetta Rosetta could unlock the language of cometary life The billion-Euro spacecraft, launched in 2004, is approaching comet 67P/Churyumov- …
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Saturday 18th January 2014 16:19 GMT John Deeb
Mission and craft is ESA, not NASA...
It would have helped to mention in the article that the mission and the probe is really only ESA's: paid by, designed by, launched by and operated by.....However NASA does provide support to various degrees for a couple of instruments and covers a part of the deep space tracking network. Instrument scientists at both organization might be anxious but it pales by the stakes ESA has in the functioning of the spacecraft and probe itself.
Send a reporter to the live event this Monday!
http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/esalive
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Saturday 18th January 2014 16:31 GMT roberthector
A PROFOUND EXAMPLE, OF WHAT CAN BE DONE, BY THE USE OF 'ELECTRICITY, MINERALS, TIME AND MANKINDS INGENUITY. FOR US WW2 BABIES, SUCH FEATS WERE JUST MATTERS OF UNBELIEVABLE SCIENCE FICTION.. THE CIVILIZATION THAT HAS EVOLVED OUT OF THIS CHRISTIAN-CULTURED WESTERN WORLD, IN THE LAST 500 YEARS, IS WHAT FREE-MEN CAN DO WHEN GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY. I HOPE THIS PROJECT WORKS WELL, BUT WHATEVER HAPPENS, IT IS A TRIUMPH OF THE FULL RANGE OF ENGINEERING GODD LUCK FOR MONDAY
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Sunday 19th January 2014 00:12 GMT Anonymous Coward
@roberthector - We hear you.
"A profound example, of what can be done, by the use of 'electricity, minerals, time and mankinds' ingenuity. For us WW2 babies, such feats were just matters of unbelievable science fiction.. The civilization that has evolved out of this christian-cultured western world, in the last 500 years, is what free-men can do when given the opportunity. I hope this project works well, but whatever happens, it is a triumph of the full range of engineering. Good luck for Monday"
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Sunday 19th January 2014 00:20 GMT Jan 0
@robertHECTOR
Stop hectoring us Robert. Also note that the 'Western World' was cultured long before there were Christians and continues to be so in spite of Christians. The 'Orient' also did fine without Christians. Disclaimer: other parts of the world are also cultured and may or may not contain satellite production and launch facilities.
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Saturday 18th January 2014 19:00 GMT Anonymous Coward
A contest
Someone should start a pool in bitcoins for how long the lander can stay on a surface that is basically melting into space. That time is dependent on a lot of factors - depth of "harpoons" ( harpoons, sure)penetration, placement on the comet, rotation of comet ( if any), speed of said rotation, rate of disintegration, etc. Could be fun !
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Monday 20th January 2014 16:29 GMT phuzz
The furthest point of the comet's orbit is approx 850 million kilometres from the sun. Voyager 1 is about 18,800 million km and Voyager 2 is 15,400 million km, so the two Voyagers are already much further than the little probe will ever get, assuming it stays attached to the comet on it's way past the sun.
Not to belittle what will be a pretty astounding achievement if they can pull off landing and staying attached.
(Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/67P/Churyumov%E2%80%93Gerasimenko
http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/weekly-reports/)
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Monday 20th January 2014 13:10 GMT Real Ale is Best
Nothing yet.
How long is it supposed to take to warm up?
Edit Ahh!:
The spacecraft operations team are now at their stations in the Main Control Room here at the European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt. Even though the signal is not expected until 17:30GMT at the earliest they are taking no chances.