Anyone watching the Rosetta comet landing?

[Mugshot]

It's a hoax, just like the moon landings
Take a look at this photo from the BBC,

The shadow is all wrong, it looks like it's levitating on one side, where are the stars in the background and what the hell took that photo.

 

[Drago]

What an incredible engineering achievement.

 

[Beebo]

I'm, trying to get my head around what they have actually done here.
They've landed a man made craft on a small uneven space rock 28 light minutes from earth!
The probe took off in 2004, so the technology on board is already 10 years old.
Wow, absolutely nuts.

 

[Arch]

And now, the long sleeping comet-being wakes with a start. It brushes off the nasty biting thing, and changes course to look for the people who sent it...

Seriously, on the other hand, what will this do to the orbit of the comet? It's a tiny nudge, but the comet is now 100kg heavier, the centre of gravity has changed. They are sure they haven't just put it on a collision course...?

 

[Mugshot]

And now, the long sleeping comet-being wakes with a start. It brushes off the nasty biting thing, and changes course to look for the people who sent it...

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I'm, trying to get my head around what they have actually done here.
They've landed a man made craft on a small uneven space rock 28 light minutes from earth!
The probe took off in 2004, so the technology on board is already 10 years old.
Wow, absolutely nuts.

And now, the long sleeping comet-being wakes with a start. It brushes off the nasty biting thing, and changes course to look for the people who sent it...

Seriously, on the other hand, what will this do to the orbit of the comet? It's a tiny nudge, but the comet is now 100kg heavier, the centre of gravity has changed. They are sure they haven't just put it on a collision course...?

It might weigh 100kg on Earth but as the comet won't generate much gravity, it'll be nothing like that weight.

 

[Arch]

It might weigh 100kg on Earth but as the comet won't generate much gravity, it'll be nothing like that weight.

Yeah, but it still has that extra mass, doesn't it?

 

[jefmcg]

Yeah, but it still has that extra mass, doesn't it?

Yes, because mass (and kilograms) have nothing to do with gravity.

(weight is measured in newtons, not kg)

 

[Drago]

It has 100kg mass no matter where it might be in the Universe, but it only exhibits 1kg weight in the comets gravity.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

If I accept that I'm wrong will you all stop making my head hurt?

 

[ColinJ]

There was a repeat of the Horizon programme about meteors on the other night and the scientists on that were explaining that the light from the sun shining on asteroids and meteors is enough to deflect them from their orbits***, so having a probe land on a comet definitely would be!


*** The Yarkovsky Effect

 

[Saluki]

I have been following this on the radio news. I heard the cheers over the radio while I was at the dentist.
Most impressive.

 

[Jimmy Doug]

Politics alert! Just shows why Europe is definitely better together. No European country would pull this off by itself.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

This reminds me of when I last read Gregory Benford and David Brin's Heart of the Comet, SF at its best. I recommend you read it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_the_Comet

 

[Jimmy Doug]

Eugh .... it's not over yet folks. Apparently it didn't deploy its harpoons and could have bounced back into space. We'll only know if it's still hanging on tomorrow. Until then it's fingers crossed:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30026398