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Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Comet Landing

It has been an exciting day today.  I did not get enough sleep due to the fact that I was watching the livestream of the space probe Philae which was scheduled to land on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.  After a long 10 year flight, the probe finally completed its mission, but not without issue. It had issue with its thruster and harpoon firing mechanism which would have helped secure its landing due to the low gravity the comet has.

However, Philae communicated back to Earth stating that it had landed.  Everyone at the European Space Agency erupting with celebration.  However, they are still waiting for more confirmation that the probe is functioning well and is in fact well secured on the comet. Its mission is to land on the comet and send information on the composition of the comet.

I am glad it landed and hope it continues to work while on the surface of the comet 67P. The knowledge we will obtain from this mission will help us a great deal to understand our Solar System, the Universe, Earth and possibly even how life began.

Photo sent by Philae as it landed on comet 67P


















Source:

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/The_Rosetta_lander

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/12/rosetta-mission-philae-historic-landing-comet

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30026398

http://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2014/nov/13/philae-lander-sends-picture-from-comet-video1

https://twitter.com/Philae2014


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