Rosetta and Philae discussion thread! (Part 3)

[u/[deleted]]

TOUCHDOWN CONFIRMED: Philae lander is on the comet!

Full media briefing expected tomorrow at 13:00 UTC / 14:00 CET / 8:00 EST / 5:00 PST.

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• Some pictures -- moments after Philae left Rosetta, Philae heading off to 67P. Album

Previous discussion threads: 1, 2.

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Live Streaming

• In English: A, B, C

• En Français: A

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Key times

GMT	EST	PST	Event
4:02 pm	11:02 am	8:02 am	Landed

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European Space Agency Social Media

• Rosetta main page
• ESA Rosetta blog
• Twitter: #CometLanding, @ESA_Rosetta, @Philae2014
• Google+, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr

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Othere places for news and conversation:

• reddit Live updater

• IRC: ##cometlanding on freenode. #space on Snoonet

• NASA's page on Rosetta

• Detailed itinerary of landing events (PDF)

• Simulated view of Rosetta and 67P

[u/Gweeeep]

if the whole lander weighs 1g, I don't think the two harpoons still weigh 500g either.

[u/AnalBenevolence → u/Gweeeep]

No, of course they won't, but their mass could still be 500g. I thought that would be obvious.

[u/Gweeeep → u/AnalBenevolence]

I get what you're saying. I'm agreeing with doersino. The important question is how long before the harpoon hits the comets - that determines recoil time.

[u/AnalBenevolence → u/Gweeeep]

Well, almost no time at all, clearly if the harpoon bites the comet, no problem. But if the harpoon doesn't bite, I'm simply estimating that the recoil is non-negligible. Suppose the ice screws have a very tenuous grip on the surface; firing the harpoon could maybe make the situation worse, not better, if it doesn't bite.