[lug] Rosetta live webcast

[Steve Tarr]

As one that worked on the first comet crasher (Deep Impact) I am 
impressed at our understanding
of orbital mechanics.  All commands for maneuvers were  sent long ago.  
Drift softly, Philae,
Drift softly.

On 11/12/14, 7:52 AM, Robert Racansky wrote:
> 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 )
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-- 
Steven Tarr
Principal Engineer
Boulder Systems Design, Inc.
503 Collyer Street
Longmont, CO 80501
(303) 653-5905