A Spacecraft Has Landed on a Comet for the First Time Ever

[Bad Water Bill]

For your viewing pleasure.

Go to full screen for the best viewing.

http://www.boston.com/news/science/2014/11/12/watch-spacecraft-land-comet-for-the-first-time-ever/oOswQMglEazDraMVMJsDsM/story.html

[HATCH]

From what the news said this morning its going to be short lived. The harpoons that tie the craft to the surface didn't work so the craft is just sitting on the surface. Also they said it may of bounced before landing and it may of gotten damaged.

[DCP]

Anyone else think it looks a lot like the moon.

[Wayne Smith]

I donno what just happened but that took over my iPad and I had to hard boot it to get it back.

[dtknowles]

The lander bounced on first contact and ended up a half mile from the intended landing site. It is now shaded by a part of the comet and will have a hard time charging its batteries. I hope they get some good data before it goes dark.

Tim

[Bonz]

very kool, thanks for sharing

[Love Life]

I read about this yesterday. An amazing accomplishment!!

[quilbilly]

Somehow there are pictures of the device as it sits in a crevice of the comet. The rocks (not ice) around it are very interesting and not anything I would have expected. Maybe it was part of a shattered planet or moon from billions of years ago. Its a shame the U.S. has entered a dark age where such accomplishments are no longer possible.

[Bad Water Bill]

As they said on their video they have been studying every possible oops for the last 10 years and hope they can overcome any problems that arise.

I never thought I would live long enough to see something like this happen.

Yes a real shame that the Europeans can do this and have programs ongoing for the next 20+ years and we can no longer afford to even dream of such a venture.

[jmort]

We used to have a space program. Now we are smoked by Euro-trash.

[Bad Water Bill]

Our FEARLESS leader shut down NASA and I guess gave all of that money to feed etc the CRIMINALS that invaded MY country.

[jmort]

It was all over when hussien issued a directive to the NASA director that he was to engage in muslim outreach as opposed to running a space program.

[6bg6ga]

I think we spent a **** load of money on something we didn't need to. We have people sleeping under bridges in the cold and we are throwing away our tax dollars on this junk. NOT IMPRESSED AT ALL.

[Love Life]

People sleeping under bridges have nothing to do with this huge accomplishment. Totally separate to be honest. I'd rather throw dollars at space exploration than give them to a bum who will probably buy drugs, alcohol, or cigs.

[mtnman31]

I think we spent a **** load of money on something we didn't need to. We have people sleeping under bridges in the cold and we are throwing away our tax dollars on this junk. NOT IMPRESSED AT ALL.
This was not a US space effort. It was a European space effort. I'm sure we assisted with some money (who don't we help out?) and/or people, but I would much rather see the governement waste $$$ for something useful than give handouts to the undeserving and unappreciative who make very little effort to improve their own place. By useful, I mean the technology that space helps develop. There is a long list of common, everyday items that wouldn't be here if it weren't for them being developed through the various space programs.

[cbrick]

obummer has done severe damage to anything that makes America look good. The military, NASA etc. One of his first directives in office was to NASA . . . Make nice to muslims. While NASA is a bureaucracy and capable of wasting money it is one of the few worthwhile uses of tax money. Far more common everyday products on the market right now as a result of NASA research than most would believe. The education & learning has been huge.

Not for us anymore but I wish the EU the best on the project. A lot of NASA employee's work in EU now.

Rick

[GabbyM]

Most of those photos look like CG graphics to me.

[Silfield]

NASA has supplied three of the key monitoring instruments + a bunch of scientists helping on Rosetta, so they still had a bit of help from your folks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_(spacecraft)
It took over ten years and nearly 4 billion miles of travel to catch up with the comet travelling at 34,000 miles per hour!
Pretty impressive stuff.

[dtknowles]

Somehow there are pictures of the device as it sits in a crevice of the comet. The rocks (not ice) around it are very interesting and not anything I would have expected. Maybe it was part of a shattered planet or moon from billions of years ago. Its a shame the U.S. has entered a dark age where such accomplishments are no longer possible.

Why do you think the U.S. could not have done this mission? In my mind, sending the rovers to Mars was more challenging. The ESA did a great job on this mission and demonstrated that they have great tech but that does not mean nobody else could have done it. We might soon know if those rocks are mostly ice or mostly rock. From our understanding of the evolution of comets if they are not mostly ice they will be more like Coal than Granite.

Tim

[dtknowles]

As they said on their video they have been studying every possible oops for the last 10 years and hope they can overcome any problems that arise.

I never thought I would live long enough to see something like this happen.

Yes a real shame that the Europeans can do this and have programs ongoing for the next 20+ years and we can no longer afford to even dream of such a venture.

NASA is working on an effort to put a man on a asteroid in the next 10 to 15 years. Next month they will test launch the Spacecraft that will take the astronauts to the asteroid and bring them home. You been living in a cave?

Tim

[dtknowles]

It was all over when hussien issued a directive to the NASA director that he was to engage in muslim outreach as opposed to running a space program.

That whole thing lasted maybe a couple months and cost nothing and amounted even less. We did spend a little more effort to see if we could cooperate with the Chinese on Space Projects. That went no where as well. We will continue to work with the Russians, Canadians, Japanese and ESA. The Europeans did not do this without our help and we will all share the knowledge gained.

Tim