# Go Rosetta!



## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

This morning (GMT) one of the most ambitious endeavours in Human history will take place.

The European* Space Agency probe Rosetta will, after a 10 year flight, undertake a final thruster burn in an attempt to insert the craft into a powered triangular orbit around the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko (which is travelling at 55,000km/h).

If this phase of the mission is successful then a lander (Philae) will be released to touch down on the surface of the comet. One of the most important aspects to the scientific value of this mission will be to establish if comets could have been responsible for 'seeding' life on Earth. To this end a variety of experiments will be deployed which will seek to detect the presence of any organic compounds on this object and especially the atomic composition of the water-ice will be analysed.

The critical stage of the mission cannot rely upon human intervention for a signal takes 22 minutes to reach the craft. That brave little robot will have to fend for itself. Keep your fingers crossed.

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*yes, that's right, the Eeeeurooo_PEAN_! :thumbs-up:

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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Nearly there........









Livestreaming from ESA operations centre here: https://rosetta.esa.int/


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Job done! Congratulations to the ESA.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

The question is, will it come back like V'Ger!

Actually that's great. I didn't hear anything about that in the news so thanks for the link and the update.

It's incredible to think of the accumulation of human knowledge and understanding that is riding on that small craft out there in the cosmos.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Yea, I heard about it on Beeb 4 this morning.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

All this while the hungry are unfed, income is unequal and the shoeless are still unshod??

Scandalous folly!!


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## 32rollandrock (May 1, 2008)

WouldaShoulda said:


> All this while the hungry are unfed, income is unequal and the shoeless are still unshod??
> 
> Scandalous folly!!


I disagree. Amazing achievement. Even if it is a waste of money, I'd rather flush it down the drain on stuff like this than a lot of other more-useless things we fund.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

It may seem like a waste but think of the everyday items we take for granted that were made possible for us due to technological advances from the space program. 

Sometimes human knowledge is pushed forth in small, incremental steps and sometimes in huge leaps. 

I don't think it's a waste of money at all.


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## Odradek (Sep 1, 2011)

Certainly not a waste of money, even if it had failed. To get so far, and to do what is being done, is an achievement beyond most others. The whole thing is mind boggling.Even if it had failed it would have been worthwhile.

I find myself thinking of the title of Herzog's book about the making of Fitzcarraldo.
"_Conquest of the Useless_".

Quite a while since I've read it, but he talks about pushing that boat over the hill just for the operatic achievement of it all.

Strange it seems to be getting no media coverage in the USA.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

^ I read it on CNBC online this morning.


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## 32rollandrock (May 1, 2008)

SG_67 said:


> It may seem like a waste but think of the everyday items we take for granted that were made possible for us due to technological advances from the space program.
> 
> Sometimes human knowledge is pushed forth in small, incremental steps and sometimes in huge leaps.
> 
> I don't think it's a waste of money at all.


I don't think so either, although I might have insinuated otherwise. I've seen only the stills and thought "My gosh." I like "my gosh" stuff.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

^Yeah, as cheesy as it sounds I still get romantic over the notion of space exploration and pushing man's boundaries.


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## MaxBuck (Apr 4, 2013)

Shaver said:


> View attachment 12164


Thanks for posting that magnificent photo, Shaver.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

SG_67 said:


> ^Yeah, as cheesy as it sounds I still get romantic over the notion of space exploration and pushing man's boundaries.


I have faithfully followed all of the space missions since Apollo.

But most especially the sheer excitement that the Voyager probes provided over the many years of the Grand Tour puts a spring in my step whenever I reflect upon it. And these delightful craft are still returning valuable information nearly 40 years later - Voyager 1 (slumbering as its streaks through the void but occasionally awoken to return a few almost inaudible plaintive bleeps) recently sent us news of the Heliopause, bless its little atomic heart. https://www.space.com/22729-voyager-1-spacecraft-interstellar-space.html

This programme (Voyager: To The Final Frontier) adequately captures exactly what was so dazzling about these escapades and in viewing it fair made my eyes brim with delighted tears

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nj48v

and, as I understand BBC iplayer does not work in America, you may also try here:






Comparing these triumphs unfavourably to poverty and hunger is irrelevant, the solutions to poverty and hunger are achievable with sufficient will.

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## Langham (Nov 7, 2012)

It's a very weird shape. I had always thought of comets as being like snowballs, blasted by cosmic rays into perfect spheres.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Indeed so Mr Langham, albeit not exactly perfect spheres but still not quite so irregular as 67P. It is speculated that the so-called 'rubber duck' shape is resultant of two objects colliding and bonding. With any luck sufficient relevant data will be obtained to satisfy this conundrum.



Langham said:


> It's a very weird shape. I had always thought of comets as being like snowballs, blasted by cosmic rays into perfect spheres.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Just for fun here are two of the oddest formations in the solar system:

Star Wars fans might recognise this:









It's actually Saturn's moon Enceladus.

As used in the movie Watchmen, a 'smiley face' :

It's the Galle crater on Mars.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Proof positive that there is no God!!

(My sarcasm is still turned on for those that didn't know)


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

WouldaShoulda said:


> Proof positive that there is no God!!
> 
> (My sarcasm is still turned on for those that didn't know)


It has an 'off' switch!?!?

:devil:


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## Langham (Nov 7, 2012)

Shaver said:


> Indeed so Mr Langham, albeit not exactly perfect spheres but still not quite so irregular as 67P. It is speculated that the so-called 'rubber duck' shape is resultant of two objects colliding and bonding. With any luck sufficient relevant data will be obtained to satisfy this conundrum.


'Rubber duck'? To my mind there is something that is unpleasantly leprous and also suggestively anatomical about it...

I must stay away from those mushrooms.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Shaver said:


> It has an 'off' switch!?!?


It does, but suffers of atrophy!!


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## gaseousclay (Nov 8, 2009)

*tinfoil hat*


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Today's the day! The moment we have all (well me at any rate) been waiting for. Philae will separate momentarily, at 8.35 GMT, despite a failure of one of the on-board landing systems. Due to the distance of the craft from Earth the confirmation of separation signal will take just short of half an hour to reach us, with a further two hours before we hear from the lander during its descent. If all goes well the touchdown on Comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko is expected at 17.00 GMT.

This is one of the greatest achievements in human history and (if you will permit me this good natured jibe) it is brought to you by the *European* Space Agency.










Have fun with this lovely interactive 3D view of the solar system and Rosetta's progress through it:
https://sci.esa.int/where_is_rosetta/

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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Separation confirmed!

God speed little machine.

The live feed from mission control is here: https://rosetta.esa.int/


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Very impressive! The link in your earlier post, #23, is more than just a bit mesmerizing. I've found myself quite fascinated by it for far more than a few minutes and echoing your most appropriate words of hope, "God speed little machine!" :thumbs-up:


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## vpkozel (May 2, 2014)

I think that this is very cool. I also think that at some point in the near future, we humans will find an interstellar object where the cost benefit analysis will make it worthwhile to send up a manned or unmanned flight to "mine it" for lack of a better term. There are no more minerals of note on Earth - meaning what is here is here, not that we have found it all. And it is in our DNA to explore and break through new barriers.

This carries with it potential for huge rewards and risks - most probably not just unknown, but also not even conceivable.


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## Hitch (Apr 25, 2012)

Sigh ; Charlie Rangel could have purchased millions of lifelong liberals with that much cash.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

government(s) are uniquely positioned to fund and foster innovation in space travel so it is one area of government spending I won't quibble with. 

I find it remarkable that we are able to reach out hundreds of millions of miles and put our imprint on something is awe inspiring.


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## vpkozel (May 2, 2014)

SG_67 said:


> government(s) are uniquely positioned to fund and foster innovation in space travel so it is one area of government spending I won't quibble with.
> 
> I find it remarkable that we are able to reach out hundreds of millions of miles and put our imprint on something is awe inspiring.


I disagree with that - at least as it stands now. I agree that when things began that the government was the only entity that could have funded it, but SpaceEx launches things into orbit at a fraction of the cost that NASA does.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Hitch said:


> Sigh ; Charlie Rangel could have purchased millions of lifelong liberals with that much cash.


I have renewed faith it won't work.

He's buying people he already owns, then when the moment of truth arrives they don't show up!!


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Hitch said:


> Sigh ; Charlie Rangel could have purchased millions of lifelong liberals with that much cash.


Some might question the alignment of a chap who chose to derail a thread which celebrates the immeasurable beauty of the Creator's work.

Hail Satan, eh?


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