Rosetta Space Probe

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

I can't post a link via my phone, but, surely this is one of the greatest pieces of human ingenuity of all time. The Science behind it is amazing and I don't pretend to understand it in the slightest.

[Mr White]

It's going to try to land on a comet right? Crazy. presumably going to get some interesting images and data?

[lord bunberry]

I believe it's used the gravitational force from it's orbit around Jupiter to approach the comet from behind, so in effect its catching it up. I always find these sort of things amazing, especially when you consider the distances involved and the speed that they're travelling at.

[Pretty Boy]

Absolutely amazing.

I love anything to do with space, don't understand most of it but it's so interesting.

There was a great article on the BBC the other day about the Sun 'falling asleep' and the effect that will have on the weather in the years to come.

Edit: Here 's the article
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25743806

[judas]

It's going to try to land on a comet right? Crazy. presumably going to get some interesting images and data?

its not so crazy.

Its been executed succesfully before by American miners as documented in the movie Armaggedon.

This is a relatively low key operation.

[Mr White]

its not so crazy.

Its been executed succesfully before by American miners as documented in the movie Armaggedon.

This is a relatively low key operation.

:tee hee:

[derekHFC]

One of the articles I read, suggested that it takes 45-minutes for a command to get from earth to the probe. Long shift whoever is working that.

[Just Alf]

One of the articles I read, suggested that it takes 45-minutes for a command to get from earth to the probe. Long shift whoever is working that.


Hmmm.... they could get some practice in by coming and speaking to my daughter then! :rolleyes:

[One Day Soon]

Love how they are describing it! :greengrin

"This giant ball of plasma should be peppered with sunspots, exploding with flares and spewing out huge clouds of charged particles into space in the form of coronal mass ejections."

A beautiful description of Liquidation Day in Gorgie.

[Jack]

The communications and computer power in this spacecraft must seem ancient to the guys working it now.

I was at a conference a few years ago being told that every five years processing power and storage was doubling in size and halved in cost. I reckon that's probably every couple of years now.

To put it in perspective the guys at the launch probably phoned their wives on a early Blackberry to say they'd be late home!

I still had a Nokia 3310 and thought snakes was fantastic on it!!!

[Just Alf]

The communications and computer power in this spacecraft must seem ancient to the guys working it now.

I was at a conference a few years ago being told that every five years processing power and storage was doubling in size and halved in cost. I reckon that's probably every couple of years now.

To put it in perspective the guys at the launch probably phoned their wives on a early Blackberry to say they'd be late home!

I still had a Nokia 3310 and thought snakes was fantastic on it!!!

That's a really good way of explaining it :aok:

Progress isn't half marching on in some things.