One of the longest words in the English dictionary which simply means 'super', which is what I have to say about the 'Rosetta mission to put a probe on the Comet 67 P/ Churyumov - Gerasimenko'!
Background.
This mission is all about finding our origins, our roots. Scientists are divided into two categories viz:-
- one believes that comets and planets are made from the same clumps of dust and ice that spewed
from our Sun's birth
- the other believes that they are older than that and may contain grains of inter-stellar stuff older
than our solar system.
The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission was, thus, conceived and the spacecraft was to be the first to put a probe on a comet. This has the support of the NASA by virtue of on board equipment to facilitate scientific studies.
Vital Statistics.
- Lifted off from Korou in French Guyana on 02 Mar 2004
- The lander that would separate from Rosetta and make the touchdown is named Philae
- The comet is a combination of rocks, ice and dust particles and Philae will land on the 'rocky'
head of the planet
- The total distance that the spacecraft had to cover for the mission was 600 crore km and as of
date, it's 51 crore kms from the earth
- The time taken by the comet 67 P to go round the sun is 6.6 years and its diameter is 4 km
- Rosetta has 11 on board scientific instruments and weighs three tons
- Philae has 10 on board scientific instruments and weighs 100 kgs
And what happened today?
- at 1405h Indian Standard Time, Philae had separated from Rosetta at a distance of 22.5 km
from the comet 67 P
- the speed of the comet is 55,000 kmph
- was to soft land at a point, one km in circumference, named 'Agilkiya'
- after landing, it was to be secured with ice screws and self deployed tethering harpoons
The present picture.
After almost ten hours of a series of maneuvers, the positioning of Philae at its predetermined spot
was still not completed as the harpoons had failed to deploy due to a glitch but efforts are on.
Tailpiece.
O God, please let the tethering harpoons deploy earliest! And wow, what a scientific expedition?
Background.
This mission is all about finding our origins, our roots. Scientists are divided into two categories viz:-
- one believes that comets and planets are made from the same clumps of dust and ice that spewed
from our Sun's birth
- the other believes that they are older than that and may contain grains of inter-stellar stuff older
than our solar system.
The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission was, thus, conceived and the spacecraft was to be the first to put a probe on a comet. This has the support of the NASA by virtue of on board equipment to facilitate scientific studies.
Vital Statistics.
- Lifted off from Korou in French Guyana on 02 Mar 2004
- The lander that would separate from Rosetta and make the touchdown is named Philae
- The comet is a combination of rocks, ice and dust particles and Philae will land on the 'rocky'
head of the planet
- The total distance that the spacecraft had to cover for the mission was 600 crore km and as of
date, it's 51 crore kms from the earth
- The time taken by the comet 67 P to go round the sun is 6.6 years and its diameter is 4 km
- Rosetta has 11 on board scientific instruments and weighs three tons
- Philae has 10 on board scientific instruments and weighs 100 kgs
And what happened today?
- at 1405h Indian Standard Time, Philae had separated from Rosetta at a distance of 22.5 km
from the comet 67 P
- the speed of the comet is 55,000 kmph
- was to soft land at a point, one km in circumference, named 'Agilkiya'
- after landing, it was to be secured with ice screws and self deployed tethering harpoons
The present picture.
After almost ten hours of a series of maneuvers, the positioning of Philae at its predetermined spot
was still not completed as the harpoons had failed to deploy due to a glitch but efforts are on.
Tailpiece.
O God, please let the tethering harpoons deploy earliest! And wow, what a scientific expedition?
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