• Ground control bids farewell to Philae comet lander
    28 replies, posted
[img]http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/397E/production/_83681741_83681740.jpg[/img] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35559503[/url] [quote]Ground controllers say it is time to give up hope of ever hearing again from the comet lander Philae. The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission dropped the robot onto Comet 67P in November 2014. But after a troubled landing and 60 hours of operation, there has largely been radio silence from Philae. The German Aerospace Center (DLR), which led the consortium behind Philae, said the lander is probably now covered in dust and too cold to function. "Unfortunately, the probability of Philae re-establishing contact with our team at the DLR Lander Control Center is almost zero, and we will no longer be sending any commands," said Stephan Ulamec, the lander's project manager at DLR.[/quote]
Such a sad sad fate. Luckily we got some info from this little lander before it went dark.
Bon voyage, triumph of humanity.
Meanwhile Opportunity is [url="https://d2cj35nmzi9erd.cloudfront.net/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1885"]still fucking going[/url].
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;49726325]Meanwhile Opportunity is [url="https://d2cj35nmzi9erd.cloudfront.net/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1885"]still fucking going[/url].[/QUOTE] Probably has something to do with how Mars isn't a comet.
When humanity gets to mars, I want to build a little memorial on the landing/crash site of every mars rover and then retrieve the rovers and stick em in a museum.
[media]https://twitter.com/ESA_Rosetta/status/698084677408653312[/media] :cry:
[QUOTE=S31-Syntax;49726355]When humanity gets to mars, I want to build a little memorial on the landing/crash site of every mars rover and then retrieve the rovers and stick em in a museum.[/QUOTE] curiosity is fucking massive though
I wonder if they should've put an RTG onboard Philae, not huge, but something big enough to keep the electronics warm.
[QUOTE=S31-Syntax;49726355]When humanity gets to mars, I want to build a little memorial on the landing/crash site of every mars rover and then retrieve the rovers and stick em in a museum.[/QUOTE] I think having them stay on their respective sites is a much more powerful testament to humanity's achievements - future generations that will inevitably travel to mars will be able to see them and appreciate how far we've come.
Reminds me of the other thing they lost on mars sometime ago, I think they should really send the new probe they've sent to mars to find it and assess its current condition. Because let's face it, if you can recover an asset of yours that is presume to be dead then you've got two assets that are functional.
[QUOTE=Passing;49726728]Reminds me of the other thing they lost on mars sometime ago, I think they should really send the new probe they've sent to mars to find it and assess its current condition. Because let's face it, if you can recover an asset of yours that is presume to be dead then you've got two assets that are functional.[/QUOTE]Or you end up with a specially designed multimillion dollar project that finds nothing and you're out two assets
So, where is the comet right now?
[QUOTE=eirexe;49726400]curiosity is fucking massive though[/QUOTE] I hate to break it to you but we've already got museum technology big enough to host a lanky robot the size of a hatchback
This is what happens when you let Italians help.
[QUOTE=Superkilll307;49727190]This is what happens when you let Italians help.[/QUOTE] I think it's more of just depending to much on solar as your main power source with no alternative on said probe, than one group of people.
[QUOTE=coolgame8013;49727287]I think it's more of just depending to much on solar as your main power source with no alternative on said probe, than one group of people.[/QUOTE] Nope, Italians.
[QUOTE=OvB;49726369][media]https://twitter.com/ESA_Rosetta/status/698084677408653312[/media] :cry:[/QUOTE] Stop doing that already! It did garner a lot of attention but the lander was a fairly high risk operation before the gas thrusters failed, after that, it didn't really ever have a shot of safely landing Also the orbiter is going to crash later this year as well
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;49726325]Meanwhile Opportunity is [url="https://d2cj35nmzi9erd.cloudfront.net/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1885"]still fucking going[/url].[/QUOTE] Martian wind was an unpredicted factor in the longevity of the Mars rovers. They've gone dormant a few times only to have a windstorm blow their panels clean enough to generate a charge again. Unfortunately this is not the case with Philae, as the comet has hardly any atmosphere if any
[QUOTE=piddlezmcfuz;49727526]Martian wind was an unpredicted factor in the longevity of the Mars rovers. They've gone dormant a few times only to have a windstorm blow their panels clean enough to generate a charge again. Unfortunately this is not the case with Philae, as the comet has hardly any atmosphere if any[/QUOTE] I know, my post wasn't a critique of how poorly Philae has performed, it was more of a compliment to just how impressively long Opportunity has managed to function.
[QUOTE=Passing;49726728]Reminds me of the other thing they lost on mars sometime ago, I think they should really send the new probe they've sent to mars to find it and assess its current condition. Because let's face it, if you can recover an asset of yours that is presume to be dead then you've got two assets that are functional.[/QUOTE] Curiosity's job is simple - hit shit, burn shit, scoop shit, grind shit. Creating something with enough dexterity and robustness to service and repair a broken probe/rover would cost infinitely more than whatever it cost to make the initial rover/probe
[QUOTE=OvB;49726369] :cry:[/QUOTE] Wow, watching the vid in that link I didn't realize it had such a fucked up landing. I thought it touched down and slipped a bit, not hit and tumbled twenty times with the super high chance of landing wrong side up.
[QUOTE=LoneWolf_Recon;49726451]I wonder if they should've put an RTG onboard Philae, not huge, but something big enough to keep the electronics warm.[/QUOTE] ESA doesn't have RTG technology, something to do with sourcing plutonium or something
[QUOTE=LoneWolf_Recon;49726451]I wonder if they should've put an RTG onboard Philae, not huge, but something big enough to keep the electronics warm.[/QUOTE] RTG and nuclear heaters are different, most deep space probes have some sort of nuclear heater onboard because they're just plutonium oxide pellets that are mounted onto critical equipment, the opportunity rover for example has a few of them to maintain its internal temperature even though its solar powered, RTGs however are much bigger and heavier, but there really wasn't a point to putting one on the probe because it and its orbiter don't have long lives anyways
[QUOTE=smurfy;49729978]ESA doesn't have RTG technology, something to do with sourcing plutonium or something[/QUOTE] It requires a plutonium that can only be made from enrichment which no one does anymore because of a treaty or some shit. NASA is gonna deplete their stockpile in the near future as well Chances are they'll form some international orginzation to make more, just too useful for space exploration.
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;49726325]Meanwhile Opportunity is [url="https://d2cj35nmzi9erd.cloudfront.net/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1885"]still fucking going[/url].[/QUOTE] That robot is going to be trucking well past the time we land on Mars...
[QUOTE=dai;49727187]I hate to break it to you but we've already got museum technology big enough to host a lanky robot the size of a hatchback[/QUOTE] The issue is probably more with hoisting it off the planet, though to be fair that's easier than lifting it off Earth once there's enough presence and/or the museum in question would be on Mars.
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;49726325]Meanwhile Opportunity is [url="https://d2cj35nmzi9erd.cloudfront.net/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1885"]still fucking going[/url].[/QUOTE] Scary thing is Spirit and Opportunity were only meant to work for [i]90 days[/i]. Spirit lasted over 5 years before getting stuck in soft soil near a spot that would constantly cut off light (killing the battery for good) and Opportunity is now going on 12 years of operation.
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