[lug] Rosetta live webcast

[Robert Racansky]

Not Linux related (unless the spacecraft is running Linux), but Philae
is about one hour from contact with 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko


live webcast:

http://rosetta.esa.int/

and

http://new.livestream.com/esa/cometlanding


http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/11/rosetta-to-launch-comet-lander-late-tonight/

Rosetta Has Launched Comet Lander [UPDATED]
ESA's decade long mission to enter a free-fall stage.

by John Timmer - Nov 12 2014, 6:00am MST

UPDATE: Philae has successfully separated from the Rosetta orbiter and
is on its way towards the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Both Philae and Rosetta are in contact with Earth, and the landing
legs on Philae are deployed.

The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission took roughly a decade from
launch to approach its ultimate destination: the comet
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Since then, it's entered a close orbit and
has been providing spectacular images of the surface of this alien
world. But later today, it's set to start its most ambitious activity
yet, the launch of the Philae lander, which is intended to set up a
monitoring system on the comet's surface itself. The ESA will
livestream [ link ] events from mission control starting at 4pm US
Eastern time today (19:00 GMT).

Philae is a small, solar-powered lander that contains 10 instruments [
link ] that are intended to examine the composition of the comet, both
at its surface and internally. There's also a small drill that will
obtain samples up to 30 cm deep at the landing site. All that comes
from a power budget that averages eight Watts when the sun is shining
on it.

The weight budget for the Rosetta mission, however, didn't allow for
any engines or guidance systems. Instead, Philae will simply be
released by the orbiter and left to drift to the comet's surface,
driven by the initial momentum of the separation and pulled by the
body's weak gravity. Once in motion, no course corrections will be
possible during the seven hours it will take to reach the comet's
surface.

Initial maneuvers will see Rosetta, which is currently orbiting at 30
km, shift direction to move toward the comet's surface. Separation
will occur around 3:30am tomorrow (8:30 GMT) with landing expected
around 11:00am if all goes well. We'll have updates as warranted, or
you can tune in to the ESA's livestream.


 Reader comments 54



JLewPEArs Centurion
Tue Nov 11 2014 @ 12:00 pm

Mankind landing on a comet; I'm excited. Somehow I gauge the reaction
of the rest of humanity somewhere between "Meh... What's <<insert
latest pop/reality star>> up to?" and:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f_DPrSEOEo1

up ( +9 | +9 / 0 ) down


passie
Tue Nov 11 2014 @ 12:30 pm

In case anyone hasn't seen it, here's a cool visualization of
Rosetta's orbit and Philae's smacking-into-comet trajectory:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a3eY5siRRk

up ( +12 | +12 / 0 ) down


nathan a.
Tue Nov 11 2014 @ 12:44 pm

Kind of sad that has 50,000ish views and the ZOMG ALIEN BUILDINGS ON
COMET 67P video has 150,000.

(Yes, I watched both :) )

up ( +6 | +6 / 0 ) down


onkeljonas
Tue Nov 11 2014 @ 1:00 pm
. . .
By the way, ESA did an interesting little film [
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H08tGjXNHO4 ] trying to drum up
interest for Rosetta. They were very inspired by the "7 minutes of
terror" animation NASA did, but as one of the Rosetta managers said
"our landing isn't 7 minutes of terror but 7 hours of boredom"...

up ( +14 | +14 / 0 )