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back to article TRIANGULAR orbits will help Rosetta to get up close with Comet 67P

The European Space Agency (ESA) has revealed just how its Rosetta comet probe will close to within just 10km of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta arrived at the comet on August 6th and has since sent back lovely photos of the rock. The mission plan calls for even better photos to become possible by bringing Rosetta …

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  1. Winkypop Silver badge

    Philae is due to touch down on November 11th.

    Where an appropriate silence will be observed.

    Lest we forget.

    8 3 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Philae is due to touch down on November 11th.

      A down vote, harsh.

      3 0 Reply
  2. frank ly

    24th September - Night Excursion

    Hoping to find nightclubs and bars?

    0 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Coat

      Re: 24th September - Night Excursion

      There are bars there but they are not very good - they just have no atmosphere.

      I'll just get my coat ...

      19 0 Reply
      1. stucs201
        Reply Icon

        Re: bars

        They're also less well known than the Mars ones.

        3 0 Reply
        1. Captain DaFt
          Reply Icon

          Re: bars

          "They're also less well known than the Mars ones."

          Eh, they've had a bad rep since NASA showed they water their drinks.

          http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050401.html

          0 0 Reply
        2. AbelSoul
          Reply Icon

          Re: bars

          "They're also less well known than the Mars ones."

          But can they be deep fried?

          4 0 Reply
  3. Ragarath

    Simples

    We've all played Kerbal by now, surely we can all get that darn thing into orbit.

    P.S. Well done boffins.

    4 0 Reply
  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Is it actually in orbit...

    ... given the (presumably tiny) gravity of this rock? Or is it just continuously manouvering around it?

    0 0 Reply
  5. Mike Bell

    It's not in orbit as such... yet. Currently, it's undergoing a series of hyperbolic trajectory manoeuvres. Without regular thrusts it would currently leave the comet behind.

    When it descends much nearer the comet's surface, it will be put into a roughly elliptical orbit. I imagine the gravitational field will be pretty variable so that would require a good bit of knowledge / number crunching / thrusts to keep things that way.

    1 0 Reply
  6. MyffyW Silver badge

    Is it just me or does that video look like the wire-frame graphics in ELITE?

    1 0 Reply
  7. Peter Simpson 1
    Thumb Up

    Feel the need to point out

    That this mission is just *way* cool! Rendezvous with a comet, go into orbit around it, then *land* on it??? Frickin' awesome!

    This is at least as exciting as the Mars lander "skycrane" descent.

    6 0 Reply
  8. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Pint

    Just keep up the good work!

    1 0 Reply
  9. phuzz Silver badge
    Boffin

    The scary bit is that Philae (the lander), doesn't have any thrusters, so it's landing will be more of a fall. Fortunately the comet's gravity is pretty weak, but to get an accurate landing the boffins are going to have to map it's (presumably wonky) gravity field, and take into account the pressure from any out-gassing from the surface and the solar wind.

    0 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Out-gassing?

      If the comet surface is as troublesome as that shown in the Deep Impact movie, good luck to Philae the brave lander!

      1 0 Reply

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. Martin Budden Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      So if Philae has no thrusters, does Rosetta "throw" it at the comet?

      0 0 Reply
  10. JCitizen
    IT Angle

    I thought I read that it was going to fire a spike.

    And tether itself to the comet on the way 'down' to the surface!

    0 0 Reply

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