Space stuff (NASA, UKSA, CSA, ESA, etc)

Earlier this year the Lick observatory , the world's oldest mountaintop observatory, was in danger of losing its funding from the University of California. The school has changed course and will continue to fund the observatory. The decision is in part due to a public campaign to save the facility. (via io9)

Also:

 
It's an amazing accomplishment because it's the first time humanity has landed some device on a comet but also, as a minor point, it's the fourth body in the solar system where we have 'set foot', the third besides earth! Fucking amazing

Hope they are finally able to secure the module with the harpoons or whatever
 
Also to be considered:

The soft touchdown of NEAR Shoemaker on the Asteroid 433 Eris.

The landing of the Hayabusa probe on 25143 Itokawa.
 
The Philae lander had issues on landing. The anchoring harpoons and landing did not deploy and the landing thruster did not fire. The lander bounced twice. The first bounce was 1km high and took almost 2 hours to complete. The lander is now sitting on its side in the shadow of a cliff which means that it is not getting enough sunlight to sustain the mission. (via Space.com)



Even in its compromised position, the probe is still collecting data. It will also begin attempting several additional experiments while it still has power. (via io9)
 
More updates on Philae:
* The lander has successfully drilled into the comet to seach for organic molecules.
* All of the data that has been collected has been downloaded.
* The main solar panel has been repositioned to improve its ability to collect sunlight.
* The lander has been placed in sleep mode and will try to reactivate when it is closer to the sun.

(via Gizmodo)
 
The ESA has released a mosaic showing images captured by the OSIRIS camera on the Rosetta orbiter. The images show the first decent of Philae and part of the first bounce. (via ESA, Gizmodo)

 

GasBandit

Staff member
Uh... Jose Canseco has some odd ideas about the ramifications.



"SPACE PIONEERS USED TO RIDE THESE BABIES FOR MILES!"
 
Comets "have their own power"? Anything we put on them has to be sped up to match the speed of the comet in the first place, and if we can do that, what do we need to attach it to the comet for? Anything we speed up that much will continue on until it hits something else, just like the comet!

Nothing he said is true. Our Juno Mission spacecraft was travelling over 25 times faster than halley's comet.

Rosetta had to travel faster than its comet at points during its mission simply to catch up to it.
 
Well he stands in the exclusive club of 158 million Americans that know more about the importance of space research than the average American.

In short, that's not a very high recommendation. Can you compare him to an established space or science expert? Or even a celebrity scientist, like Bill Nye? How would those people appreciate his comments?
 
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