Rosetta, Philae and Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

[Klingon Admiral]

"Philae, you didn't fire your harpoons! What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm alright."

I hope.

[Guest]

So lander is either sitting lightly on the comet, or bumped the comet and slowly floating away.

[whaaw]

perhaps they have to shoot the ankers or the drill unit will push the lander up. i dont know how much gravity is there

[Sky_walker]

So lander is either sitting lightly on the comet, or bumped the comet and slowly floating away.

It's sitting still, instruments are gathering data as planned.

Overall - landing was a success, Philae attached itself with an ice screws (yes, it had 3 redundant systems for landing - thruster, harpoons and an ice screws). Just Philae didn't attach as firmly as scientists would like it to.

[StainX]

w8... didn't they say that the ankers have fired, but they are unsure if they attached and consider a manual re-fire of them!?

[Sky_walker]

w8... didn't they say that the ankers have fired, but they are unsure if they attached and consider a manual re-fire of them!?

Anchors (aka Harpoons) most likely will not be fired again as this risks destabilizing ice screws that hold Philae on a comet. However they are still uncertain just how stable Philae is, so.... it might go both ways right now, really.

My best guess is that if they decide to try the harpoons - it'll be after initial data is gathered. Ice screws are pretty much necessary for that and they worked fine.

[Deadpangod3]

so its barely attached and we're hoping it stays there.

do we have any pictures yet?

[Sky_walker]

Photographs will come in a few hours, perhaps earlier. In either case: today.

[Klingon Admiral]

today.

This depends on the timezone one lives in.

[PakledHostage]

My best guess is that if they decide to try the harpoons - it'll be after initial data is gathered. Ice screws are pretty much necessary for that and they worked fine.

Anyone who's ever done any ice climbing (I know, percentage wise, that's not very many people - especially in this crowd) knows that it takes a bit of pressure to get an ice screw started. And it takes a practiced motion of rotating it back and forth a bit while pressing on the top to get the threads to catch. Certainly the engineers who designed the ice screw system would have tested the system while they were designing and building it, but I would be cautious about declaring the ice screws to have worked given that the thruster and harpoon didn't fire to hold it down while it was screwing itself to the comet. Its success would depend a lot on the consistency of the surface.

Edited November 12, 2014 by PakledHostage

[Deadpangod3]

okay, my civics teacher was just talking about it now so i was wondering if we'd recieved any pictures of it yet so i could show it to the class, but alas, maybe friday.

[Geneborg]

Well, this is obviously a great success, they should get some data now anyways, they did hit the comet after all, even if it doesn't sit as firmely as they had hoped its by no means a failure.

I too suppose they will do inital datasets for everything that can be done without pushing against the surface and then maybe try the harpoons again, but they are the experts, if they think the risk is warrented then its their prorogative. We will know soon i guess.

EDIT:

well the first picture should come in in about 30min, if i understood correctly it will be about the aproach from philaes view.

[Sky_walker]

but I would be cautious about declaring the ice screws to have worked given that the thruster and harpoon didn't fire to hold it down while it was screwing itself to the comet.

Just reporting what people say at ESA.

[Sky_walker]

Image, 3km above the surface:

[Torham234]

BBC live update :

Scientists at mission control are now processing the first images from the surface of the comet.

But they are also getting intermittent drop-out in the communication between the lander Philae and the "mothership" Rosetta, still in orbit.

Paolo Ferri, head of operations at Esa, told BBC News: "We need to stabilise this situation over the next three hours."

[lajoswinkler]

Anchors (aka Harpoons) most likely will not be fired again as this risks destabilizing ice screws that hold Philae on a comet. However they are still uncertain just how stable Philae is, so.... it might go both ways right now, really.

My best guess is that if they decide to try the harpoons - it'll be after initial data is gathered. Ice screws are pretty much necessary for that and they worked fine.

Easy. Just F5, try it, if it fails, F9.

Wow, this was a rollercoaster. Congratulations to ESA.

[Xavven]

There's a broadcast starting in less than an hour. We will hopefully get a glimpse of the comet from its surface during this broadcast:

http://www.accuweather.com/en/features/trend/esa_first_comet_landing_rosetta_spacecraft/37172118

[Lego8_bit]

indeed it was

[PakledHostage]

Just reporting what people say at ESA.

Fair enough, but my point applies to the ESA too. Reading between the lines, they have telemetry that the screws activated, that's it. An ESA comment I read elsewhere says that they are starting to get the first photos from the surface but that the transmission is breaking up and they are loosing the feed periodically. That could be a sign that it isn't sitting in the orientation that they expect. Maybe the antenna is pointed in some funny direction because it landed on a boulder or toppled over.

Edited November 12, 2014 by PakledHostage

[Torham234]

BBC has got a live feed from the MC. No sound.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/science-environment-29985988

[Frida Space]

the very last pic before touchdown! scientists are now focusing on the harpoons and on the signal issues.

[Zipmafia]

A few pics I found. Last shot of Philae lander. Philae's last shot of Rosetta probe.

[Torham234]

The ice screws could have just dug into a dust layer, it looks quite deep on that pic.

[Sky_walker]

Check out google.com - they made a doodle for Philae!

Also, message from NASA:

This achievement represents a breakthrough moment in the exploration of our solar system and a milestone for international cooperation. We are proud to be a part of this historic day and look forward to receiving valuable data from the three NASA instruments on board Rosetta that will map the comet's nucleus and examine it for signs of water.

Small bodies in our solar system like comets and asteroids help us understand how the solar system formed, and provide opportunities to advance exploration.

It's a great day for space exploration.

---

Media briefing should begin in a moment

---

Fair enough, but my point applies to the ESA too. Reading between the lines, they have telemetry that the screws activated, that's it. An ESA comment I read elsewhere says that they are starting to get the first photos from the surface but that the transmission is breaking up and they are loosing the feed periodically. That could be a sign that it isn't sitting in the orientation that they expect. Maybe the antenna is pointed in some funny direction because it landed on a boulder or toppled over.

Pure speculation at the moment I'm afraid, even people at ESA don't know the exact cause right now, there can be dozens of reasons for interrupted communications. So far though everything looks like Philae is sitting flat on a surface, as expected, and instruments are gathering data as planned. Stability and communications are two concerns right now, but overall - Philae made the landing - and that's the most important part.

Edited November 12, 2014 by Sky_walker

[Jenteb07]

"Live ESA TV report on first science data coming from comet 67P expected shortly"

EDIT: postponed to 20h00 CET

Edited November 12, 2014 by Jenteb07