Probe lands on Comet
12
Nov
Asked 10 years ago to enter the solar system in orbit, the probe Rosetta has released the module called Philae, which successfully landed on the comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko, where it will be in the coming months sending data on the celestial body, announced yesterday the European Space Agency (ESA).
The agency has its headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, announced yesterday the 16h02 (9:02 a.m. EST, Brazil): “We’re in the comet” which caused great excitement in the control center.
The fact is unprecedented in human history, and comets can bring data on the origin of solar systems, about the origin of the universe and even about the origin of life.
After analyzing the telemetry (data travels through the solar system and take almost 30 minutes to reach the earth), it was noticed that the harpoons that hold the probe in the comet did not fire at first, and this attachment can detach the probe before to perform all the desired measures and tests, but maybe the problem is reversed.
Comets travel at very high speeds in the solar system, the P / indicates a comet is periodic with orbital period shorter than 200 years, which makes the calculations a little simpler for landing, but even so it’s like a fly lands on a cannon ball.
