The End of Rosetta

As the United States sends a spacecraft towards a distant asteroid, the European Space Agency was watching a different story as its explorer the Rosetta spacecraft came to an end.

Today the Rosetta spacecraft "crashed" into 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at about 2 miles per hour. Okay, maybe it was a soft landing. So now the comet hosts two ESA spacecraft - Rosetta and the earlier probe Philae. 

The mission taught us more about both comets and the early development of our own planet. For instance, the theory that the Earth's water came from earlier comments bombarding the surface seems less certain since the water on the comet was not too dissimilar.  However, the question about the role of comets in the development of life was more positive.

Rosetta project scientist Matt Taylor promised the science was just beginning:

Inevitably, we now have new mysteries to solve. The comet hasn’t given up all of its secrets yet, and there are sure to be many surprises hidden in this incredible archive. So don’t go anywhere yet – we’re only just beginning.

We Are Not Alone...

That is, we are not alone in our efforts to study the solar system and dream as a nation. This is good news, and yet also a little troubling since we saw ourselves as the smartest kid on the block (though one could argue that was not even the case with Russia during the Cold War until the Apollo landing).  While the Orion mission is a bold step forward, it is not clear where that step is leading as Congress debates destinations such as asteroids, the Moon, and Mars.  And the White House seems to be taking a back seat rather than voicing a vision. 

If you look at the traffic in space, you can see the "space race" is turning into rush hour:  Here are a few examples:

- Europe:  The Rosetta mission was a great accomplishment.  Landing a probe on a comet is no small task, and the European Space Agency (ESA) should be elated with this accomplishment.  ESA is also working with Russia on a new mission to Mars, something that the U.S. backed out of earlier.  Hence, alliances are forming with the U.S. being sidelined.

- China:  China continues to work on its plans for a space station and took further steps last year in its efforts to return samples from the moon.  China already has a rover on the Moon's surface. 

- Japan:  Japan launched the Hayabusa 2 mission last month (pictured above) heading for a 3,000-foot-wide asteroid named 1999 JU3.  NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plan to share asteroid samples.

- Russia:  The Russians continue to build most of the rockets we depend upon, have discussed pulling out of the International Space Station so they can build their own station, and recently restated plans to put cosmonauts on the Moon.  Whether or not Russia will have the budget to do these things in coming years will depend upon economics as much as science and technology given the state of the Russian economy. 

- India:  India joined the big leagues last year with its successful Mars Orbiter Mission, which put a spacecraft in orbit around the Red Planet. India is also taking steps to build a new rocket and capsule for future manned missions.

- Private Sector:  In addition to the various national missions, the private sector has its own plans, including Planetary Resources mining asteroid, Mars One bringing humans to Mars, SpaceX hopefully allowing the U.S. to move away from Russian rockets, and Bigelow designing inflatable space stations (see photo) for both science and tourism. 

All of the activity is encouraging, and maybe it will give the NASA and the Congress a swift kick in the pants, letting them know that the world will not stand idle while Rome (or budgets) burn and committees fiddle.  Competition helped us get to the Moon, and it may do so again. 

Image Credits:  Hayabusa 2 from JAXA and inflatable space station from Bigelow.

Philae: The Little Ship that Could

The European Space Agency's (ESA) little Philae has gone to sleep for the moment on the surface of Comet 67p, but the very fact it is on the back of this monster rock 300 million mile away as it careens towards the sun is nothing but amazing.  After a bumpy landing and bad placement on the comet's surface, the lander's batteries slowed died due to a lack of solar energy.  Luckily, the lander had already sent back the data it was supposed to measure for ESA scientists to analyze.  ESA's mission website stated:

From now on, no contact will be possible unless sufficient sunlight falls on the solar panels to generate enough power to wake it up. The possibility that this may happen later in the mission was boosted when mission controllers sent commands to rotate the lander’s main body with its fixed solar panels. This should have exposed more panel area to sunlight.

In the meantime, Rosetta will continue to continue to orbit the comet and send back more data on the comet for continued analysis. The adventure continues.

Top Image:  Panoramic shot from Philae from the surface of Comet 67p. The three feet of Philae’s landing gear can be seen in some of the frames.
Bottom Image:  Philae's scientific instruments.
Image Credit:  ESA

Philae Attempts a Comet Landing Later Today

After a 10 year trip, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft will deploy its probe called Philae to the surface of Comet 67p, which is the size of Mont Blanc (see the ESA image of the comet over Paris below).  With all the plans for manned missions to more local destinations, this is a fascinating pursuit that could only entail robotics to be accomplished with a reasonable amount of funds.  And the landing, involving harpoons, will be a risky operation.

In an interview, Rosetta mission manager Fred Jansen stated:

If there are problems – for example with the lander’s battery power levels – on 12 November we will halt its release, though that will mean a delay of two or three weeks before we can manoeuvre Rosetta back to the right point above the landing zone.

Once it lands, Philae's scientific probing should tell us more about the contents of this ancient object and whether they were the source of the oceans on Earth.  For more on the mission you can visit this mission site. 

Update:  Philae successfully landed on the comet at 11:05am ET.  A great accomplishment for the Europeans.

Rosetta's Mission to a Comet

Above is an amazing shot of the comet being pursued by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft.  This image was taken earlier this month from about 65 miles away.  After 10 years, the Rosetta mission is finally on target to orbit the comet before landing on it in November of this year.  This will be the first ever landing on a comet and provide all of us with a greater understanding of whether comets seeded life in our solar system. 

You can follow the mission via the ESA website or NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  ESA has also put together a fun story on its website for kids following the mission. 

Image Credits:  ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM (coment) and ESA (cartoon)