Spacecraft Rosetta arrives at Comet 67-P

[johncocker]

Pretty incredible. The accuracy and engineering are staggering.

After more than 10 years travelling 6.4-billion kilometres on a road trip around the solar system, the spacecraft Rosetta has "arrived" at its destination, a distant comet named 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

 

About 7pm local time on Wednesday, the European Space Agency's comet chaser came within 100 kilometres of the surface of Comet 67-P, which is hurtling around the Sun at up to 135,000km/h.

If only they put this much effort into fixing problems on earth.

 

http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov

[No User Name]

Which part of Sheffield did this happen in?

[geared]

Just off Derek Dooley way.

 

The traffic's a nightmare, which is why it took ten years to get there :hihi:

[Blackbeard]

Pretty incredible. The accuracy and engineering are staggering.

After more than 10 years travelling 6.4-billion kilometres on a road trip around the solar system, the spacecraft Rosetta has "arrived" at its destination, a distant comet named 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

 

About 7pm local time on Wednesday, the European Space Agency's comet chaser came within 100 kilometres of the surface of Comet 67-P, which is hurtling around the Sun at up to 135,000km/h.

If only they put this much effort into fixing problems on earth.

 

http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov

 

Just think, they did this with technology which must be at least 15 years old, how much warranty do you get on a TV today?

[Guest]

67p? that's quite cheep.

[JFKvsNixon]

From the gist of this thread, can we conclude that the cheapest place to get your TV warranty is from Comet, with their prices starting from 67p?

[Cuey]

I find it staggering. Its going to drop a probe onto the surface. Thats an area the size of a road, travelling at 135,000kph and they don't even know if the surface is soft or hard.

 

It shows what we can do as a species if we stop bickering and fighting.

 

The team that have done this deserve a huge pat on the back from the scientific community.

 

Well done guys.

 

Now let see if our water really was from comets. The jury is still out on that one.

[mumkin]

I find it staggering. Its going to drop a probe onto the surface. Thats an area the size of a road, travelling at 135,000kph and they don't even know if the surface is soft or hard.

 

It shows what we can do as a species if we stop bickering and fighting.

 

The team that have done this deserve a huge pat on the back from the scientific community.

 

Well done guys.

 

Now let see if our water really was from comets. The jury is still out on that one.

 

I'm waiting for the "creationist factions" denouncing all this research.

[mjw47]

Watched a report on TV last night where an Italian scientist explained how it was achieved.

 

He used a ball and a small piece of meteorite to represent rosetta and explained how the spacecraft used the gravitational pull of the Earth - twice - and Mars - once - to orbit and increase speed then 'slingshot' after the comet.

 

I can see a time when we land 3D printers on planets accompanied by a couple of mining robots who then manufacture more robots using materials found there and proceed to mine the planet and transport its minerals home.

 

Apparently the Chinese are considering mining the Moon for a particular rare mineral which is measured in Kilos on Earth but millions of tons on the Moon.

 

No doubt this, or something similar will be the cause of the WW3, the final episode!

[aliceBB]

Not sure about the 3D printers. It's difficult enough getting colour cartridges for the blasted things on Earth, let alone in space.