71–80 of 309 posts
Anyone knows where i could find some info about the software stack this kind of probes are being built with ? Languages, programming methods, patching methods,os, runtime, etc. I'm really curious to know how different it is from the web or enterprise development worlds.
Amazing job! This might be a silly question but are their any ideas as to the actual real world benefits we could see from this? The director-general of the ESA said "This is a big step for human civilisation" so I presume there is some idea of what they expect to gain from this mission? Edit: Thanks for all the replies! I'm at work now but will take a look at them this evening.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Improved understanding of our solar system, its history and our place in the universe is a real benefit that soon will be available for anyone. Comets are generally very old, so can enable us to learn a lot about solar system's history. Achieving engineering capabilities required to land on comets is a step forward for human civilization. I consider the above to be actual real world benefits. If they are not, I'm not…
Thanks. I would definitely consider the second point a real world benefit but if we are going to spend over $1bn to learn about the solar system's history I take it we are hoping to discover something that actually has benefits to humanity (e.g. when the money could have had more immediate impacts treating disease or helping the poor etc.). Don't get me wrong I'm all for these kinds of missions I just thought that to…
More analysis of @Philae2014 telemetry indicates harpoons did not fire as 1st thought Ouch, seems like it didn't land? https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/532575061543485440 edit - the landing is confirmed, however the harpoons did not fire: https://twitter.com/ESA_Rosetta/status/532579871202238464
It did land, here's the next tweet: > It looks like @Philae2014 made a fairly gentle touch down on #67P based on amount of landing gear damping #CometLanding but the harpoons may have failed to fire.
Can it stay on the surface without the harpoons?
More analysis of @Philae2014 telemetry indicates harpoons did not fire as 1st thought Ouch, seems like it didn't land? https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/532575061543485440 edit - the landing is confirmed, however the harpoons did not fire: https://twitter.com/ESA_Rosetta/status/532579871202238464
Ulamec: signal kept coming and going "but we always got it back." Possibly indicates unstable, or tilted.
Ulamec confirms the harpoons did NOT fire. There is much they currently do not know.
Ulamec: a central rod was pushed into lander 4 cm by landing. Indicates soft rather than hard surface (rod would've pushed more into lander)
Just had a chat with Mark McCaughrean and I feel a bit calmer....
McCaughrean: @Philae2014 is down on the surface of the comet and it is transmitting signals. Science instruments are getting data.
Yes, McCaughrean confirmed this. RT @JPMajor: @elakdawalla So the ice screws on the lander's feet have at least dug in I assume?
https://twitter.com/elakdawalla/status/532578862086250497
------------------------------------------
And overview of the German DLR stream's briefing (via reddit live stream):
Good news:
--- Touchdown, all the signals that trigger on touchdown worked.
--- Still communication, which means the lander did not tilt or topple.
Bad news:
--- ADS thruster did not fire, that is the issue was already known beforehand.
--- The anchors did not fire, this confusion was due to the rewind motors for the anchors going into action, but the harpoon wasn't actually fired.
--- Team doesn't know if it rebounded or not / if it's on the surface. Thus they don't dare issuing a re-firing signal for the harpoons, because they don't know in what position the lander is. Current Situation:
--- The arm that damped the landing force only moved very little, which indicates a very soft surface. Which might mean if it rebound the rebound was very soft as well and in this case might settle down again.
--- On board computer is waiting for new commands.
--- There will be more telemetry in 30 minutes, but contact lost in 120 minutes, so the final verdict could be known only tomorrow.
More analysis of @Philae2014 telemetry indicates harpoons did not fire as 1st thought Ouch, seems like it didn't land? https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/532575061543485440 edit - the landing is confirmed, however the harpoons did not fire: https://twitter.com/ESA_Rosetta/status/532579871202238464
It did land, here's the next tweet: > It looks like @Philae2014 made a fairly gentle touch down on #67P based on amount of landing gear damping #CometLanding but the harpoons may have failed to fire.
those harpoons are what is supposed to anchor Philae to the comet. the problem is the reaction thruster, the thruster that counteracts the force generated by the harpoon shot, (to satisfy Newton's 3rd law) is faulty.
So they're hoping that when they reshoot the harpoon, the foot screws will be anchored enough to hold it in place. If not, theyre hoping that Philae won't launch too far off the surface so that they can just "reel" Philae back in.
we just landed a friggin' robot into a friggin' commet mind blowing
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Improved understanding of our solar system, its history and our place in the universe is a real benefit that soon will be available for anyone. Comets are generally very old, so can enable us to learn a lot about solar system's history. Achieving engineering capabilities required to land on comets is a step forward for human civilization. I consider the above to be actual real world benefits. If they are not, I'm not…
Thanks. I would definitely consider the second point a real world benefit but if we are going to spend over $1bn to learn about the solar system's history I take it we are hoping to discover something that actually has benefits to humanity (e.g. when the money could have had more immediate impacts treating disease or helping the poor etc.). Don't get me wrong I'm all for these kinds of missions I just thought that to…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It did land, here's the next tweet: > It looks like @Philae2014 made a fairly gentle touch down on #67P based on amount of landing gear damping #CometLanding but the harpoons may have failed to fire.
Ah my bad. Nonetheless it seems like harpoons did not fire. Tweet from just 30 secs ago: https://twitter.com/ESA_Rosetta/status/532579871202238464 Can it stay on the surface without the harpoons?
technically yes. Philae has harpoons along with foot screws to secure it to the comet, but if harpoons are super glue, foot screws are tape.