After traveling for more than ten years and four billion miles , Rosetta became the first spacecraft in chronicle to rendezvous with a comet . But , it some way , the space vehicle ’s piece of work has only just begin . One of the next challenge will be selecting a safe blot for Rosetta ’s lander , Philae .
[ range of a function : NASA ]
[ Image : ESA ]
Over the next few months , Rosetta ’s corkscrew orbitwill bring it even closer to 67P / Churyumov – Gerasimenko , bring down its distance from the current 60 naut mi down to 30 miles and then 18 miles . In the meanwhile , scientists will use the observations to scout for possible landing sites .
https://gizmodo.com/first-close-up-photos-of-the-solar-systems-most-crazy-1616987871
As the European Space Agencyreports :
One fear when the lander was being designed was that it would rebound from the surface — but this was when they still recollect the surface would be very hard . Indications now are that surface is likely soft , so rebounding wo n’t be such an issue . We ’ll soon find out what the surface is made of , but in any case , the lander is fit out with a harpoon system and ice screws to secure it to the surface . In addition , the touchdown will be at a hurrying of just 1 m / s. Stefan Ulamec , the Philae Lander Manager ( above ) say : “ this is like take the air and bounce against a paries ; it hurts but it wo n’t vote down you ! ”
But what about the surprising comet chassis ? Not the standard ‘ potato ’ that everyone was expect – more like two potato stuck together , or even a duck’s egg . Already , there has been a very preliminary analytic thinking carried out show some potentially interesting sites based on the illumination conditions and flying active restrictions .
Space
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