News of the Comet-hunting Rosetta mission

[Mike]

Apparently the first big bounce made it land 1km away from its original spot. It is now in a shady hole meaning it has only limited access to sunlight and power.

[Rick]

...and yet again BBC News re-writes an article. That one above now says:

Rosetta: New images from uneven comet landing

The robot probe Philae that made a historic comet landing is now stable after initially failing to attach to the surface, and is sending pictures.

After two bounces, the first one about 1km back out into space, the lander settled in the shadow of a cliff, 1km from its target site.

It may be problematic to get enough sunlight to charge its batteries.

Launched in 2004, the European Space Agency (Esa) mission hopes to learn about the origins of our Solar System.

It has already sent back the first images ever taken on the surface of a comet.

After showing an image that indicates Philae's location - on the far side of a large crater that was considered but rejected as a landing site - the head of the lander team Stefan Ulamec said: "We could be somewhere in the rim of this crater, which could explain this bizarre... orientation that you have seen."

Figuring out the orientation and location is a difficult task, he said.

"I can't really give you much more than you interpret yourself from looking at these beautiful images."

But the team is continuing to receive "great data" from several different instruments on board Philae.

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30034060

[Fay]

How did the battery onboard hold its power for 10 years, enabling it to work for 60 hours?

[Mike]

Giant solar panels pointed towards the sun on Rosetta. The lander is s small thing, no bigger than a fridge and has landed on a 45 degree angle, in a shadowy dip, with half of it's panels out of sunlight.

Plus, for most of those 10 years the entire thing has been in low power mode and only woken up occasionally to carry out essential tasks.

[Fay]

it is amazing the battery stayed in good condition all those years

[Mike]

Well the pyrotechnics that were meant to fire the harpoon didn't work (not surprising really), neither did the foot screws or the top thruster.

But after being subjected to the conditions of space for 10 years it is amazing anything works at all. I bought a washing machine once that lasted less than a year.

[Rick]

I really should have posted this earlier: http://xkcd1446.org/

[Mike]

With Hours To Live, Controllers Are "Taking Risks" With Comet Lander​

[Mike]

Oh and apparently it's not a comet at all but an ALIEN SPACECRAFT.

[The Thing]

Oh and apparently it's not a comet at all but an ALIEN SPACECRAFT.

Of course it is alien, Philae bounced off the hull camouflaged beneath a layer of dust and rocky stuff. Obvious really and it explains why the screws didn't work as well.

[MarkS]

How did the battery onboard hold its power for 10 years, enabling it to work for 60 hours?

The primary battery was a specially developed lithium one:
http://www.saftbatteries.com/press/press-releases/saft-battery-specially-developed-cnes-prepares-esa%E2%80%99s-philae-lander-churyumov

[Fay]

what amazing batteries, Mark

[Carole]

I wonder - once they have grabbed a bit more scientific data, if it's worth making a last ditch attempt at using one of the manoeuvres that could destabilise it, but it just might shift it into a better position with a bit of luck.  If it doesn't they are going to lose it anyway, so nothing ventured......

Carole

[Canadian Roger]

Alas, Philae has fallen asleep.

Daniel, on the Rosetta blog ( http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2014/11/15/our-landers-asleep/ ) stated:
"From now on, no contact would be possible unless sufficient sunlight falls on the solar panels to generate enough power to wake it up.

The possibility that this may happen was boosted this evening when mission controllers sent commands to rotate the lander's main body, to which the solar panels are fixed. This may have exposed more panel area to sunlight."

[Rick]

I think they've managed to get a good chunk of analysis daya back from Philae, which will be interesting. Rosetta will hopefully keep working for a while, too.

From Twitter: https://twitter.com/Philae2014/status/533403430489178112/photo/1