Rosetta Comet Lander

[Ke1t]

The Philae Lander is currently in the process of landing on comet 67P.

 

Link to live ESA feed, which is a worried looking guy in a hoodie rather than a spaceship touching down like in Space 1999.

 

Lander

 

 

Here's a size comparison of the comet to L.A.

 

[gla5gowdon]

I've sat in the very control room during a launch, fucking painful.

 

[daytripping]

Why bother was my first thought?

 

Who pays for this type of thing my second?

 

In Armageddon they landed the shuttle on one, looked hairy stuff, this time it's a dishwasher size thing. Hope it crashes.

[daytripping]

Could have already landed, the signal is just passing Mars on the way to Earth, gripping stuff.

 

Takes 28 minutes for the signal to reach us.

[gla5gowdon]

Handy infographic for you fatty

[daytripping]

I'm enthralled by the pointlessness of the whole thing, starving kids dying of horrible diseases in Africa and we're sending things to land on comets for the laughs.

 

Nuking Glasgow and all those within it I would understand, this I don't.

[Clydeside_Sheep]

Great thread Kelt!

 

They seem quite concerned about the landing, but I am sure it will be fine. They are going in at only 1m/s so that should be fine, regardless of what its made of (if not, the legs are designed to absord impacts).

 

Apparently theres little gravity so they have harpoons to make sure it sticks to the surface.

 

I dont know much about the comet itself - is it one of the ones which reappears periodically, or is one this just "going somewhere"? (presume the former, if they were able to plan this?).

 

Its interesting to think what they might find or be able to deduce from the landing.

 

(I amused myself by pondering what was the worst possible thing they might find - after much thought I cant see past "Space Huns" as being the worst possible thing lol).

[gla5gowdon]

I'm enthralled by the pointlessness of the whole thing, starving kids dying of horrible diseases in Africa and we're sending things to land on comets for the laughs.

 

Nuking Glasgow and all those within it I would understand, this I don't.

 

No bites from me, know how much you love it here

[daytripping]

Same as the guy who paid $110 Million for a sculpture yesterday, just bizarre, build a new kids hospital or whatever if you have the spare cash.

 

Sorry O/T, back to landing watch.

[gla5gowdon]

Boom, looks like it worked - they are receiving telemetry I think?

[daytripping]

 

No bites from me, know how much you love it here

 

I'd enjoy it more if it was a nuclear wasteground.

[gla5gowdon]

Yep, they're getting TM.

[Clydeside_Sheep]

Nuking Glasgow and all those within it I would understand, this I don't.

 

Surely I get a reprieve FFS?

 

Ive even built an Anderson Shelter, of WW2 vintage, in preparation for the day that Aberdeen launches its "first strike" nuclear assault against Glasgow

 

My Anderson Shelter:

[Ke1t]

"Philae is sitting on the surface, talking to us"

 

Yaaas!

[gla5gowdon]

Wonderful news, congrats to all involved.

[StandFree1982]

#weareallphilae

[daytripping]

#whatnowandwhogivesafuck.

[Ke1t]

Why bother was my first thought?

 

Who pays for this type of thing my second?

 

In Armageddon they landed the shuttle on one, looked hairy stuff, this time it's a dishwasher size thing. Hope it crashes.

 

Stephen Hawking reckons we've got about 200 years to get into Space properly, otherwise we're fucked. And he's a clever cunt, so he probably knows what he's talking about.

 

There's only so much oil you can pump out of the ground, only so much metal you can strip mine. When that's gone we can go back to hunting gazelles with wooden spears.

 

In space there's everything we need to keep modern civilisation alive indefinitely... oceans of hydrocarbons on Titan, H3 on the Moon, Asteroids the size of cities loaded with metals out in the Oort Cloud.

 

It might seem like pissing money away right now, but in a very few generations we'll hopefully reap the rewards.

[gla5gowdon]

 

Stephen Hawking reckons we've got about 200 years to get into Space properly, otherwise we're fucked. And he's a clever cunt, so he probably knows what he's talking about.

 

There's only so much oil you can pump out of the ground, only so much metal you can strip mine. When that's gone we can go back to hunting gazelles with wooden spears.

 

In space there's everything we need to keep modern civilisation alive indefinitely... oceans of hydrocarbons on Titan, H3 on the Moon, Asteroids the size of cities loaded with metals out in the Oort Cloud.

 

It might seem like pissing money

away right now, but in a very few generations we'll hopefully reap the rewards.

 

Firing stuff into space is a far better use of money than wars etc.

 

Are you a creationist C_S?

[daytripping]

 

Stephen Hawking reckons we've got about 200 years to get into Space properly, otherwise we're fucked. And he's a clever cunt, so he probably knows what he's talking about.

 

There's only so much oil you can pump out of the ground, only so much metal you can strip mine. When that's gone we can go back to hunting gazelles with wooden spears.

 

In space there's everything we need to keep modern civilisation alive indefinitely... oceans of hydrocarbons on Titan, H3 on the Moon, Asteroids the size of cities loaded with metals out in the Oort Cloud.

 

It might seem like pissing money away right now, but in a very few generations we'll hopefully reap the rewards.

 

We could just recycle more.

[StandFree1982]

#pointlesshashtaggingbecauseitseemstherightthingtodorightnow

[Poodler]

They should ask Bluto about it, he was probably there 20 years before us, soaking up the culture

[King Street Loon]

I thought it was a stone.

[Scrumpy]

A-m-a-z-i-n-g

 

 

zi

[NorthernLights24]

The harpoons that were meant to secure the probe to the comet didn't fire so there is a risk it might float off. They are working on a plan to try and fire the harpoons again, fingers crossed they manage too.

[Scrumpy]

It-could-help-explain-how-the-Earth-and-life-on-Earth-began

 

(Sorry,_spacebar_and_some_other_keys_have_died_on_me)

[MegaloDon]

trying ICE harpoons on a solid rock is a bit senseless..

 

still mainstream scientists hold to the 'dirty snowball hypothesis' , despite all the evidence against it

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-Ew7NKf7Bg&list=PLwOAYhBuU3UeYFyfm2LilZldjJd48t6IY

[looksgoodinred]

http://imgur.com/TUkKuhf

 

"The thought that someone calculated this and thought, "yeah, that will work" and it actually works blows my mind."

 

^^ this.

 

 

[rumpus]

Totally and utterly pointless.

 

Space is for weirdos.

[LeDandy]

I feel sorry for robots after this , apparently it sent a message stating " my battery is about fucked here guys !" followed by " seriously lads , I am about fucked here , fa's coming to get me ?"