Rosetta Space Probe lands on comet
The Descent of Philae Toward the Comet in Tweets
This is so exciting. This landing has been planned for 10 years! I couldn't imagine being a scientist and sending this thing up 10 years ago, hoping something stupid wouldn't happen before it makes it's landing. It's like "Armageddon", but with no Bruce Willis and no Liv+Ben love story, and it's real. This probe is going to be riding around our solar system, orbiting the sun at 85,000 mph, collecting soil samples and other data about the comet and the space it's riding through.
We are going to learn so much from this; I'm nerding out over here!!
"After more than 10 years traveling through space, we’re now making the best ever scientific analysis of one of the oldest remnants of our Solar System."
Here's a look at key moments during Rosetta's incredible trip:
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March 2, 2004: Europe's unmanned probe Rosetta takes off from Kourou, French Guiana, after a series of delays, including an abandoned January 2003 launch window because of a rocket problem.
Feb. 25, 2007: Rosetta carries out a close flyby of Mars. European Space Agency's mission control breaks out in applause after the end of 15 tense minutes of radio silence as the craft passes behind the Red Planet.
Sept. 5, 2008: Probe successfully passes close to an asteroid 250 million miles from Earth. The spacecraft loses its radio signal for 90 minutes as planned during the flyby of the Steins asteroid, also known as Asteroid 2867.
July 10, 2010: Between Mars and Jupiter, Rosetta transmits its first pictures from the largest asteroid ever visited by a satellite after it flies by Lutetia as close as 1,900 miles (3,200 kilometers). It is the closest look to date at the Lutetia asteroid.
Jan. 20, 2014: Waking after almost three years of hibernation, Rosetta sends its first signal back to Earth. Systems had been powered down in 2011 to conserve energy, leaving scientists in the dark for 31 months.
Aug. 6, 2014: Rosetta swings alongside comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko somewhere between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Nov. 12, 2014: The probe releases the Philae lander and it drops to the comet's surface. Seven hours later, Philae touches down on the comet.
I did hear about this. NPR won't shut up about it, haha! I heard that scientists think comets brought water and life to Earth which means we could learn a lot about our own origins. They call them the "building blocks of the universe". It reminds me of microbiology when they call protein "the building blocks of life". I think it's so interesting that the universe/orbital model is a pattern in every scale of life: in outer space, on Earth, on the cellular level, and on the particle level. Neat stuff!
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