Farewell Philae

The European Space Agency has had no new news on the Philae Lander since July 20^th. It seems safe to say that we should bid Philae a fond farewell. The Rosetta mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has accomplished many of its aims; but, the lander achieved only a small portion of its goals due to a bouncy landing on the comet. The comet has very weak gravity and so it was difficult, to say the least, to achieve a landing. The landing could be compared to dropping a Wham O Superball off of a skyscraper and predicting where it would land. Philae was able to send back 57 hours of data and photos from three locations on the comet as it bounced, rocked, and rolled its way to an unstable resting place and then “collected its thoughts” regarding its unexpected position. ESA had expected that they would have much more time to collect data sent from Philae. The “little lander that could” was supposed to rest comfortably in a place where the sun would shine on its solar panels and provide it with plenty of power. But a troublesome cliff that blocked the activity of the solar cells proved too difficult to overcome.

Meanwhile, Rosetta, the Comet orbiter and companion vehicle to Philae has sent back a wealth of data and photos. (See the links here and here as well.)  Rosetta is relaying information that shows how a comet responds to solar winds as it gets closer to our sun. Rosetta, along with Philae, has also shown that the comet itself is not magnetised, answering one of the great questions about comets and their activity.

The European Space Agency has truly sparked our collective imagination regarding comets in our solar system. They have faithfully exhibited the pioneering and exploratory spirit that shows humanity at its best. We thank them for their work and their expansion of our knowledge regarding science and the dynamics of comets.

Making Scientific Discovery Interesting

The Making of Ambition

Lukasz Sobisz, is the Technical Director of Simulation for Platige Image's film, Ambition. The film is directed by Tomek Baginski and stars Aidan Gillen and Aisling Franciosi. In an interview about the European Space Agency's Rosetta Mission and the accompanying film, Ambition, Sobisz expressed his surprise that the European Space Agency would need the creative skills of the film-making company for which he works.

I'm very surprised you need something like this at all now. Mankind sends a probe into space to catch a comet and land on it, and we need a great director, film, and actors to convince people this is interesting.1

Works Cited:
Ambition. Directed by Tomak Baginski. Performed by Platige Image. 2014.
The Making of Ambition. Directed by Wojciech Jagiello. Performed by Lukasz Sobisz. 2014.

1 (Sobisz 2014)

Rosetta and Philae: Hello My Friend, Hello

Rosetta and Philae Communicating Again

In November of 2014, the Rosetta spacecraft delivered the Philae lander to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (see my previous blog here). This represented the first soft landing of a spacecraft onto a comet. This in itself was a great accomplishment despite the fact that the mission did not go quite as planned. The Philae lander was intended to send back data on the composition of the comet but landed in a region where its solar panels were shaded by a cliff and, after 57 hours of operation, it could not recharge sufficiently to achieve all of its science operations. The onboard computers powered down into hibernation mode and its orbiting partner, the Rosetta spacecraft lost radio contact with the lander.

However, as anticipated, as the comet has continued its approach to the sun, and solar energy has become more intense, the Philae lander has been able to recharge sufficiently to reconnect with the Rosetta orbiter. The European Space Agency (ESA) has confirmed that on June 19, 2015 several packets of lander information were delivered to Rosetta1. The two spacecraft are again communicating and this is a very hopeful sign for the mission analysts. The comet will make its closest approach to the sun on August 13 and the agency is hopeful that the increasing solar intensity will allow the lander to continue to gain charging capabilities and restart its science operations.

Meanwhile, the Rosetta spacecraft continues to send images and scientific data to earth as the ESA has extended its mission until September 2015. Rosetta will continue sending back images and data related to the comet while anticipating more data from the Philae lander. The European Space Agency continues to dream about how best to utilize both vehicles and is now considering landing Rosetta on the comet at the end of its lifespan. The ESA even has a cool mini-movie that addresses the importance of such missions that is designed to inspire ambition. Check it out here.

1 http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/06/19/rosetta-and-philae-in-contact-again/

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

"Oh little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by."

Earlier this week, the Rosetta spacecraft reached the end of a ten year journey and delivered the Philae lander to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. After a bouncy landing in the open planes, the lander came to rest too close to a cliff to recharge its batteries with solar panels. This caused the computers on the washing-machine sized vehicle to power down into hibernation mode. Mission scientists are hopeful that it may yet achieve a better position relative to our sun and charge its batteries enough to wake up. But, for now, it must slumber in deep heavenly, frigid, peace.

Meanwhile, the comet, barely perturbed by the added weight and jostlings to its orbital path, continues on in a slow arc around the sun. This trajectory will sling it close to the sun and then hurl it back out beyond the orbit of Jupiter. The Rosetta spacecraft, like a dog whose master has died, will remain close beside, looking for some sign of life. The little lander that could is now one more piece of interplanetary material circling the sun and waving to earth as it flies by each 6.5 years. As it sails past we salute the spirit of those who served her so long and so well. We greet with honour this marvel of engineering that has once more excited dreams of far off worlds and places unexplored.

"Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright. . . . sleep in heavenly peace."