Sounds like they are in for a tricky landing, though.
Yes, and the time delay for communications from earth means they can't even actively control the landing. They are going to have to let the probe rely completely on its automatic systems for the landing.
I hope they make it. We'll get some close up shots of gas jets venting off the comet if everything goes well.
0 Replies
Setanta
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Wed 12 Nov, 2014 02:39 am
They will be attempting that tricky landing in a few hours. The mission launched over ten and a half years ago. Cool stuff. NASA's Dawn mission has already visited Vesta in the "asteroid" belt, and will reach Ceres, the largest "asteroid," early next year. Dawn is interesting because it uses ion propulsion. It is actually a joint venture of NASA and some of the ESA partners.
If I calculated the time zones correctly, the landing attempt should be at 11:02 AM eastern time.
I am unsure if that is the time of the actual landing, or the time we will receive news of the landing. There is supposed to be a signal delay after all.
In my experience, Twitter feeds are really good at getting simple news out really fast, so the question of "success vs failure" is likely to be answered first on one of the Twitter feeds.
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izzythepush
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Wed 12 Nov, 2014 04:52 am
@Setanta,
It's big (ish,) second news item after £2bn fines imposed on UK banks. And there's a reluctance to get too fired up considering what happened on our last big space venture.
It appears that it bounced at that first touchdown that we were all cheering, did not come back down for another two hours, and then had a second bounce that lasted a few minutes.
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