The lander could “bounce” on the surface of the comet
Milan , November 12, 2014 – 12:28
Hours of apprehension of Philae landing on the comet Churyomov / Gerasimenko. “I do not know if it will work on rocket engine that has to push Philae to the surface while the harpoon sticking in the ground anchoring it securely. If you are active, Philae could bounce and go even lost. ” Paolo Ferri, director of operations at the center interplanetary ESOC ESA in Darmstadt (Germany) explains tones concerned about the lack of confirmation of the operation of a system essential to ensure the landing on the comet’s nucleus, the first ever attempted in the history of space exploration.
“Darmstadt, there is a problem,”
The potential problem is a valve that was open to let the gas supplied to the engine. He also tried the backup system, but it too remained silent. “At this point,” notes Ferri, “let’s just hope that this is a sensor that does not work, which would have to say that everything was fine. Meanwhile, we are very satisfied for the secondment of Philae from the mother Rosetta probe made without any difficulty, enabling the same probe to continue its mission to the star around with his tail. ”
Exploration cometary
Exploring the comet is one of the areas most successful interplanetary exploration the European Space Agency. In 1986, the Giotto spacecraft approached the comet Halley “by touching” by just 596 kilometers, photographing for the first time the core of the star and analyzing gas and dust that came out of sheds. Comets are now an exciting frontier of research to learn about the origins of the solar system which tracks, investigate their nature and understand they may have contributed to the emergence of life on Earth as some scientists say.
November 12, 2014 | 12:28
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