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[spaminator]

Philae comet lander provides scientists with new data
Reuters
First posted: Friday, July 10, 2015 01:39 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, July 10, 2015 01:45 PM EDT
BERLIN - European scientists received data from the newly revived comet lander Philae on Thursday night, a boost to the team as they try to establish a secure line of communication for their historic scientific experiments on the surface of the comet.
The European Space Agency landed Philae on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November, but the lander bounced and landed in a position too shadowy to power its solar panels.
As the comet approached the sun, the lander surprised scientists by waking up and sending signals to Earth on June 13.
However, since then scientists have struggled to restore a secure data link between Philae and the orbiting Rosetta mothership. The secure link is needed for the scientists to relay commands to Philae's instruments and receive data back from the surface of the comet.
Philae radioed Rosetta for 12 minutes on Thursday evening, and was able to transmit data from one of its instruments, CONSERT, which is probing the internal structure of the comet, the DLR German Aerospace Centre said on Friday.
The team, which had not received communication from Philae since June 24, had attempted to turn on the CONSERT instrument on July 5 but were not sure if the command had been picked up.
"This sign of life from Philae proves to us that at least one of the lander's communication units remains operational and receives our commands," said Koen Geurts, a member of the lander control team at the DLR in Cologne.
However, the team is still unsure as to why Philae managed to communicate on Thursday but not before, the statement said.
"The new information will help us understand why we're having these difficulties communicating with Philae," Geurts said.
A probe named Philae is seen after it landed safely on a comet, known as 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, in this CIVA handout image released November 13, 2014. (REUTERS/ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA/Handout via Reuters)

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[spaminator]

Philae comet lander falls silent
Scientists fear it has moved
REUTERS
First posted: Monday, July 20, 2015 10:33 AM EDT | Updated: Monday, July 20, 2015 10:42 AM EDT
BERLIN - The Philae comet lander has fallen silent, European scientists said on Monday, raising fears that it has moved again on its new home millions of miles from Earth.
The fridge-sized robotic lab, which landed on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November, last made contact on July 9 and efforts to reach it again have so far failed, experts working for the historic European Space Agency project said.
The lander - the first mission to land on a comet, this one travelling as fast as 135,000 kph - initially bounced and landed in a position too shadowy to power its solar panels.
It woke up in June as the comet moved closer to the sun. But the latest data suggests something, possibly a gas emission, may have moved it again, the scientists said.
"The profile of how strongly the sun is falling on which panels has changed from June to July, and this does not seem to be explained by the course of the seasons on the comet alone," Stephan Ulamec, Philae project manager at the DLR German Aerospace Centre said in a statement.
Philae's antenna may have been obstructed, and one of its transmitters appears to have stopped working, the team said.
There was no answer to a command sent to activate Philae's ROMAP instrument to determine the comet's plasma environment and magnetic field.
Communications between Philae and its Rosetta orbiter are also tricky because the increasing amounts of dust thrown off by the comet as it approaches the Sun make it hard for the orbiter to stay close to the comet, they added.
Scientists have now sent out a command telling Philae to use just one transmitter, and have started moving the orbiter to a safer distance around 170-190 km from the comet
Until July 24, Rosetta will orbit a path that may allow it to contact the lander and then it will fly over the southern hemisphere of the comet to observe it with its own 11 instruments.
"Philae is obviously still functional, because it sends us data, even if it does so at irregular intervals and at surprising times," Ulamec said.
This undated artist's impression by ESA /ATG medialab , publicly provided by the European Space Agency, ESA, shows Rosetta’s lander Philae (front view) on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. (ESA/ATG medialab/ESA via AP)

Philae comet lander falls silent | World | News | Toronto Sun

 

[EagleSmack]

Shhhhhh...it has gone to sleep.

 

[spaminator]

After bumpy landing, Philae provides insight on comet
Irene Klotz, REUTERS First posted: Thursday, July 30, 2015 08:02 PM EDT | Updated: Thursday, July 30, 2015 08:09 PM EDT
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Europe's Philae spacecraft did not have much time to do its work after surviving a bounce landing on the surface of a comet, but information it collected is reshaping scientists' thinking about these icy bodies, research published on Thursday shows.
Philae piggybacked a 10-year ride with Europe's Rosetta spacecraft to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. With the orbiting Rosetta mothership serving as a communications relay, Philae descended to the comet on Nov. 12, 2014, but the lander's ice harpoons and gas thrusters failed to anchor it into the unexpectedly soft surface.
Philae bounced several times before stopping against a cliff wall, where it ran through a preprogrammed, 57-hour series of experiments. So far, attempts to re-establish good radio contact with Rosetta have failed, Philae manager Stephan Ulamec wrote in an email.
"At the moment, Rosetta is investigating the southern hemisphere of (the comet), which leads to low chances to contact the lander. After Aug. 8, chances to get Philae signals are better again," he said.
Comets are believed to be remnants from the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. They contain rock and ice that have preserved ancient organic molecules like time capsules and may provide insight into how the planets and life evolved.
Seven papers published in this week's issue of the journal Science show how productive Philae's time on the comet was.
Philae blasted radio waves through the head of the duck-shaped comet that were picked up by Rosetta on the other side, revealing the comet's surprisingly uniform interior, one study shows.
Images taken during Philae's descent found the comet has a fractured and highly reflective rock surface, with erosion playing a major role in shaping its features, concludes another.
While Philae was not able to drill out samples from the subsurface for analysis, the lander's initial bounce kicked up dust that ended up in instruments designed to detect organic compounds. Scientists report they found 16 types of organics, including four previously unknown to exist on comets.
Philae's landing also provided an unexpected discovery about variations in the comet's surface. Philae's intended landing site appears to be covered with about 10 inches (25 cm) of soft, granular material, with a hard layer beneath.
"Before the landing of Philae, we believed, cometary surfaces might be very soft  Some colleagues even feared the lander may sink deeply into the surface at touchdown," Ulamec said.
In this Nov. 13, 2014 image taken by the Comet Visible Infrared and Analyzer (CIVA), a panoramic camera system, and released by the German space agency DLR on Thursday, July 30, 2015 shows the landing site Abydos on the day after the Philae lander descended onto Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Scientists say the Philae space probe has gathered data supporting the theory that comets can serve as cosmic laboratories in which some of the essential elements for life are assembled. (ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA via AP)

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[spaminator]

Space probe confirms chemicals of life in comet's halo
Frank Jordans, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Friday, May 27, 2016 03:56 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, May 27, 2016 04:05 PM EDT
BERLIN -- Scientists have found further evidence supporting the theory that some of the building blocks for life may have come to Earth from outer space.
Using instruments aboard the European space probe Rosetta, researchers detected glycine and phosphorus in the dusty halo around a comet.
Glycine is an amino acid, one of the molecules needed to make proteins, while phosphorus is essential for DNA and cells.
Their presence in the coma enveloping comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko "supports the idea that comets delivered key molecules for prebiotic chemistry throughout the solar system and, in particular, to the early Earth," according to the study published online Friday by the journal Science Advances.
Scientists say adding a high concentration of those molecules to a body of water could have produced the "primordial soup" that gave birth to life on our planet more than 4 billion years ago.
"The beauty of it is that the material in the comet was formed before the Sun and planets formed, in the cold environment of the star forming region (known as the) molecular cloud," said Kathrin Altwegg, a physicist at the University of Bern, Switzerland, who led the study.
"That means what has happened a long time ago in the cloud from which our solar system emerged could happen in all clouds," Altwegg told The Associated Press in an email. "Then you just need another planetary system forming with a planet at the right position and you could have another go at life. It may not be successful, but as there are billions of stars and as we now know billions of planets, chances are good."
Jonathan Lunine, director of the Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science at Cornell University, said scientists had expected to find glycine in comets.
"This is because glycine is so simple and easy to make," said Lunine, who wasn't involved in the study.
In fact, glycine has already been detected in meteorites, and NASA's Stardust mission collected samples of dust from comet Wild 2 that were found to contain glycine. Because those samples were processed on Earth, however, there was a possibility that the glycine could have resulted from contamination. Scientists used a technique known as isotopic analysis to conclude that the molecules had likely come from a comet.
"Our detection is a very direct measurement with no human interference directly at the comet," said Altwegg, adding that phosphorus has never previously been confirmed in a comet.
Lunine said confirmation of glycine on 67P would provide a useful comparison for future space missions to ocean worlds like those of Enceladus and Europa -- moons of Saturn and Jupiter respectively -- that some scientists think could harbour life.
Altwegg said the two molecules were first detected more than a year ago, but researchers wanted to be absolutely sure about their discovery before announcing it. The team has already found further, even more complex molecules and hopes to publish its findings on them once they have been thoroughly checked, she said.
In this March 27, 2016 photo released by the European Space Agency ESA Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and its coma are backlit by the sun. The photo was taken by the NavCam of the Rosetta space probe from a distance of 329 km from the nucleus. Scientists say they have detected glycine and phosphorus in the dusty envelope around a comet, supporting the theory that comets 'delivered' key chemicals necessary for the emergence of life on Earth. (ESA/Rosetta/NavCam via AP)

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[spaminator]

Rosetta space probe sees bright flares, landslide on comet
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Thursday, August 25, 2016 02:47 PM EDT | Updated: Thursday, August 25, 2016 02:59 PM EDT
BERLIN -- The European Space Agency's Rosetta space probe has captured images of a bright burst of light on the comet it is orbiting, apparently caused by a landslide.
The dramatic light flashes were recorded Feb. 19 and accompanied by rising temperatures and sharp increases in dust, gas and plasma released from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Eberhard Gruen of the Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany, said Thursday a landslide on the comet's surface was most likely responsible.
The flashes would have been generated by light reflecting from dust particles kicked up by the landslide.
The European Space Agency plans to crash-land Rosetta on the comet's surface Sept. 30, more than two years after it started orbiting the comet.
Data collected by Rosetta and its lander, Philae, have improved scientists' understanding of comets.
Rosetta’s instruments detected an outburst event from Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on Feb. 19, 2016. The source was traced back to a location in the Atum region, on the comet’s large lobe, as indicated in this image. The inset image was taken a few hours after the outburst by Rosetta’s NavCam and shows the approximate source location. The image at left was taken on March 21, 2015 and is shown for context, and so there are some differences in shadowing/illumination as a result of the images being acquired at very different times. (Rosetta NavCam/ESA via AP)

http://twitter.com/ESA_Rosetta/status/768800308726226944
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[spaminator]

Rosetta probe finds lost Philae lander on comet
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Monday, September 05, 2016 12:34 PM EDT | Updated: Monday, September 05, 2016 12:49 PM EDT
BERLIN — Europe’s Rosetta space probe has located its lost Philae lander, wedged in a “dark crack” on a comet, the European Space Agency said Monday.
Rosetta’s camera finally captured images on Friday of the lander on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, weeks before the probe’s own mission ends, the agency said . The pictures showing the lander’s body and two of its three legs were taken as Rosetta passed within 2.7 kilometres of the surface.
After being launched in 2004, Rosetta took 10 years to accelerate and catch up with comet 67P. In November 2014 it released Philae, achieving the first landing of a spacecraft on a comet.
Philae bounced after its initial touchdown and its precise location on the comet couldn’t be pinned down until now, though its general vicinity was known.
After sending data to Earth for three days its battery ran out and it went into hibernation, only to recharge enough as the comet came closer to the sun to communicate briefly with Rosetta in mid-2015.
ESA plans to crash Rosetta into the comet Sept. 30, because the probe is unlikely to survive lengthy hibernation in orbit as the comet heads away from the sun.
Data from Rosetta and Philae have already improved scientists’ understanding of the nature of comets and the role they played in the early universe. Analyzing the data fully is expected to keep researchers busy for years.
“We were beginning to think that Philae would remain lost forever,” said Patrick Martin, ESA’s Rosetta mission manager. “It is incredible we have captured this at the final hour.”
Rosetta project scientist Matt Taylor said that locating Philae provides missing information “needed to put Philae’s three days of science into proper context.”
The photo released by European Space Agency ESA on Monday, Sept. 5, 2016 shows a photo of the comet lander Philae in a crack on the right side of a photo taken by Rosetta's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on Sept. 2, 2016 from a distance of 2.7 km of the Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. (ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS via AP)
The photo released by European Space Agency ESA on Monday, Sept. 5, 2016 shows a photo of the comet lander Philae on photo taken by Rosetta's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on Sept. 2, 2016 from a distance of 2.7 km of the Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. (ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS via AP)

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[spaminator]

Europe’s comet chaser Rosetta concludes 12-year-mission
Frank Jordans, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Friday, September 30, 2016 07:41 AM EDT | Updated: Friday, September 30, 2016 02:19 PM EDT
BERLIN — After 12 years of hurtling through space in pursuit of a comet, the Rosetta probe ended its mission Friday with a slow-motion crash onto the icy surface of the alien world it was sent out to study.
Mission controllers lost contact with the probe, as expected, after it hit the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at 1039 GMT (6:39 a.m. EDT) Friday, the European Space Agency said.
“Farewell Rosetta, you’ve done the job,” said mission manager Patrick Martin. “That is space science at its best.”
ESA chief Jan Woerner called the 1.4 billion-euro ($1.57 billion) mission a success. Aside from sending a lander onto the surface of comet 67P in November 2014 — a cosmic first — the Rosetta mission has collected vast amounts of data that researchers will spend many years analyzing.
Scientists have already heralded several discoveries from the mission that offer new insights into the formation of the solar system and the origins of life on Earth.
Spectacular images taken by the orbiter and its comet lander revealed a desert-like landscape on the comet with wide, featureless regions but also high cliffs and sinkholes that were more than a hundred meters (110 yards) across.
The shape of 67P itself — two orbs connected by a “neck” that have been likened to a giant rubber duck — surprised scientists when Rosetta first got up close. Researchers now believe the orbs formed independently and later merged into one.
Jessica Sunshine, a senior scientist on NASA’s Deep Impact and Stardust comet missions, said the way the comet was formed has implications for the model of how other objects in the solar system, including Earth, formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
Scientists were also surprised to find that the surface of 67P is changing, not just due to steady erosion as particles are released into the void, but also from sudden large events such as landslides.
“We see evidence of mass movement of materials on this comet,” said Sunshine, who wasn’t directly involved in the Rosetta mission. “That’s nothing like what we imagined.”
One of the crucial differences between Rosetta and previous missions was the probe’s ability to study one comet for an extended period of time. While Deep Impact fired a projectile into comet Tempel 1 back in 2005 and studied the crater for 15 minutes, Rosetta spent 786 days flying alongside 67P, observing its evolution across several “seasons” as it raced toward and then away from the Sun.
“Rosetta is what I would call a Cadillac mission that had all the right instruments and stayed reasonably close to the comet since fall 2014,” said Mike A’Hearn, an emeritus professor at the University of Maryland who worked on the Rosetta mission.
“It’s the first detailed study of a comet,” he said. “We have collected a wealth of data that has come in so fast we haven’t even had a chance to look at some of it, let alone analyze it properly.”
Data from the probe has also challenged some existing scientific theories, such as those about the origins of water on Earth and how best to hunt for extraterrestrial life.
“Rosetta has blown it all open,” said Matt Taylor, the mission’s project scientist. “It’s made us have to change our ideas of what comets are, where they came from and the implications for how the solar system formed and how we got to where we are today.”
Scientists decided to crash-land the probe on the comet because Rosetta’s solar panels would not have been able to collect enough energy as it flew away from the Sun along 67P’s elliptical orbit.
After receiving its final command late Thursday, Rosetta fired its thrusters for 208 seconds and performed a last series of scientific measurements as it swooped toward the surface of the 4-kilometre (2.5-mile) wide comet.
Because of the vast distance between the comet and Earth — almost 720 million kilometres (447 million miles) — confirmation of the probe’s crash took about 40 minutes to reach ESA’s mission control in Darmstadt, Germany.
The controlled descent took place at about 90 centimetres per second (35 inches a second)— roughly half of walking speed. That gave Rosetta a chance to snap some unprecedented low-altitude images of the comet that could reveal surface features as small as a grape.
Fans of the mission — which ESA promoted heavily with cartoons , short films , music and social media — may be disappointed to learn there’s no chance of a Rosetta revival when the comet itself swings back toward the sun.
“It will not be possible to reactivate it again,” said ESA’s head of mission operations, Paolo Ferri. “We wanted a clean end.”
Still, Rosetta guards one last message.
On board is a small metal plate with texts etched in over 1,000 languages — an enticing discovery for future spacefarers from Earth or elsewhere who might chance upon the probe on the comet.
The artist impression provided on the website of the European Space Agency ESA on Sept. 29, 2016 shows ESA's Rosetta cometary probe. The spacecraft will be crash landed on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Sept. 30, 2016. (J. Huart/ESA via AP)

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