The European Space Agency has landed a spacecraft called Philae on a comet

[rdean]

Right now, Philae should be working through its first automatic sequence of science experiments. Contact will be re-established through Rosetta later tonight, and the data downlinked.

Rosetta mission Philae craft may have bounced during comet landing as it happened Science The Guardian

Rosetta comet landing Why we should all be excited - CNN.com

Thought to be predominantly made of ice, comets are also considered to have been a possible delivery mechanism for water to the Earth, along with organic material that could have provided the building blocks for proteins and possibly life. Comets are considered frozen relics of the formation of the solar system and examining comets provides us with an insight into the conditions and composition of that time. We are doing archeology into how our planet was formed and evolved to what we live on today. It's important to understand where we came from, to get an idea of where we should be going.

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Wow, it's hard to believe all that happened a mere 6,000 years ago.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Science Channel has some live thing on this evening about it. Check local listings.

 

[DigitalDrifter]

This is an amazing feat.

The comet is about 300 million miles away. Think about that, a ship from Earth has landed on another celestial body 300 million miles away !

 

[Old Rocks]

Just considering the orbitual mechanics involved, big kudos to the European Space Agency.

 

[saveliberty]

Hope we didn't change its trajectory.

 

[rdean]

It's probably not true. Republicans think scientists lie all the time.

 

[ScienceRocks]

This is an amazing feat.

The comet is about 300 million miles away. Think about that, a ship from Earth has landed on another celestial body 300 million miles away !

Nasa and ESA fucking rule. They're the model of just how far the human species has come. They should be funded big time and humans need to be the next to land on Mars and Asteroids/comets like this one.

 

[ScienceRocks]

It's probably not true. Republicans think scientists lie all the time.

They feel this way because the Giss and noaa global temperature graph hasn't shown warming in 15 years.

 

[Mr. H.]

I created a yummy dish in honor of the occasion...

Philae Gumbo.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

I'm just as nerdy as anyone, but was unimpressed by this. Was it hard? Sure. Was it impressive? Sure. Is the feat gonna spawn a tv show? Probably not. Swing the comet around into high Earth orbit so we can mine it or otherwise exploit it and I'll get hot n bothered.

Think the problem here is there's too much sci-fi in our awareness. Landing a probe on a comet compared to Klingons and warp drive is a whole bunch of no fun.

 

[mamooth]

Rosetta is in actually in trouble at the moment. It landed tilted and at the bottom of a cliff, putting it in the shade most of the time, meaning it can't charge batteries.

Philae lander s tight spot on comet prompts tough decisions for Esa Science The Guardian

 

[rdean]

I'm just as nerdy as anyone, but was unimpressed by this. Was it hard? Sure. Was it impressive? Sure. Is the feat gonna spawn a tv show? Probably not. Swing the comet around into high Earth orbit so we can mine it or otherwise exploit it and I'll get hot n bothered.

Think the problem here is there's too much sci-fi in our awareness. Landing a probe on a comet compared to Klingons and warp drive is a whole bunch of no fun.

baby steps

 

[mamooth]

Philae, the lander, is dead for the moment, though it did sent back observations. Partial success or partial failure, depending how you look at it. It might reactivate as the comet gets closer to the sun, which will put more power into the solar panels.

Rosetta, the orbiter, is still going strong, and will proceed along with the comet during its closest approach to the sun.