Rosseta's last day.

[BAZ]

Well, after a truly stunning mission, which didn't all go to plan, Rosseta makes it's final decent onto the comet today. How many of you would have thought it even possible to not only catch up with a comet, but to have landed on it and produced some of jaw dropping images that has been sent back. Not only that, but little lost Philae still sent enough valuable data back to disprove the theory that all Earths water came from comet impacts, turns out it's not the same type of water.

You can follow the action live on ESA'a website and watch it's final decent.

Matt Taylor and the gang can be rightly proud of this mission, definitely a successful one. 

 

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/How_to_follow_Rosetta_s_grand_finale

 

Scroll down to the last video for the final trajectory, it seems to me that it going in fast, not the gentle landing I thought they had planned.

 

http://livestream.com/ESA/rosettagrandfinale

[Tweedledee]

I think it hits the comets surface at 11.40 BST +/- 20 mins this morning, but if I've read it correctly, the signal takes 40 minutes to get here, so 12.20. Please double check if you want to watch the whole event live, as I could be wrong. Start watching early. 

 

The live stream should be good.

Edited September 30, 2016 by Tweedledee

[stash]

Ok so I am mad but Newtons law's of motion says that the comet would continue on its normal orbit (subject to other forces it meets) but doesn't crashing in an object like the Rosetta mean we could alter its orbit. Ok Rosetta doeant have great mass or speed and we would not be able to measure any effect but I hope this doesn't come back to to haunt us. Just a thought 

[Big Al]

Well, if I remember my O level physics correctly, KE = 1/2 M V^2. Rosetta now weighs 165kg and will hit at approx 0.9m/sec, giving impact energy of about 67 joules. I ran out of calculator digits trying to work out 67P's KE...

 

Alan

[Tweedledee]

I just googled the mass of 67p and found it is 60,000,000,000 times that of Rosetta!

 

A fly hitting your windscreen or a butterfly settling on an elephant don't even come anywhere near to a comparison.

 

It's all on the Internet, I never realised that 67p is actually an alien spacecraft and Rosetta was sent up to make first contact with aliens. 

[Tweedledee]

About 72,200,000,000,000,000,000,000 joules for comet 67p against 67 joules for the spacecraft.

 

It might veer off its current orbit by a millimetre or two a million years after the collision with Rosetta. I wouldn't worry too much. 

[stash]

2 hours ago, Tweedledee said:

I wouldn't worry too much

I never worry life is too short - but I will be round to your house to remind you about this in the year 99999999  then  

 

In quantum mechanics /Chaos theory it is said a butterfly  flapping in China can cause a hurricane in Mexico over time (well maybe) but as Albert E said 

“As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.”

 

[Tweedledee]

2 hours ago, stash said:

I never worry life is too short - but I will be round to your house to remind you about this in the year 99999999  then  

 

You're in the diary, I'll have the kettle on.