Philae lander released from Rosetta
Posted: Wed, Nov 12, 2014, 8:00 AM ET (1300 GMT)
ESA's Philae lander spacecraft has separated from the Rosetta orbiter en route to a landing on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko later Wednesday. ESA received signals confirming that the small lander, weighing about 100 kilograms, separated from the larger Rosetta spacecraft at 4:03 am EST (0903 GMT); there is a 28-minute delay in the arrival of the signals given the spacecraft's distance from Earth. Philae will slowly descend towards the comet, with a landing planned shortly after 11:00 am EST (1600 GMT). Project managers went ahead with the landing despite a problem with a cold gas propulsion system on the lander designed to prevent any rebound upon landing on the nucleus, given the comet's weak gravity. The lander will have to rely on harpoons to secure itself on the comet's nucleus upon landing.
ESA's Philae lander spacecraft has separated from the Rosetta orbiter en route to a landing on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko later Wednesday. ESA received signals confirming that the small lander, weighing about 100 kilograms, separated from the larger Rosetta spacecraft at 4:03 am EST (0903 GMT); there is a 28-minute delay in the arrival of the signals given the spacecraft's distance from Earth. Philae will slowly descend towards the comet, with a landing planned shortly after 11:00 am EST (1600 GMT). Project managers went ahead with the landing despite a problem with a cold gas propulsion system on the lander designed to prevent any rebound upon landing on the nucleus, given the comet's weak gravity. The lander will have to rely on harpoons to secure itself on the comet's nucleus upon landing.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, January 21
ESA monitoring January 2026 space weather event
ESA — 6:08 am ET (1108 GMT) Artificial intelligence in manufacturing rocket parts
ESA — 6:07 am ET (1107 GMT) Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites scheduled from Vandenberg SFB Wednesday evening
KEYT-TV Santa Barbara, CA — 6:06 am ET (1106 GMT) O'Leary can't understand Musk's 'umbrage' on Starlink decision
RTE — 6:06 am ET (1106 GMT) AG won’t back down from suit over Space Command
Denver Gazette — 6:04 am ET (1104 GMT) |
