Already on Wednesday, Philae will land on a comet. This is the first such maneuver … – TVN Meteo

The task of Rosetta, which traverses 10 years Cosmos, is to examine the nature of the comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko. constructed by researchers at the European Space Agency (ESA) probe equipped with a total of 11 instruments of research. On board, Wednesday is also the lander Philae.

History unprecedented

November 12, the operations team of scientists from ESA, will send a signal to launch the lander towards space rock.

This will be the first in history of this kind of maneuver. Until now, the only chance for contact with the surface of the comet was planned collision between objects. The first reports from the course of the planned landing can be expected at approx. 19.30 Polish time on Wednesday.

Space “dirty snow”

– A comet is a dirty snow like crumbs that come from somewhere remote regions of the solar system, Pluto from behind – explains astronomer George Rafalski of Torun planetarium. For scientists, notes Rafalski, comets are “a real treat, because burying them in the dust and dirt” can learn something about the nature of the universe.

– You do not need to go to them, they themselves are coming to us. Just so only with the Earth “jump” on the comet, land and bury them in the dirty ice – continues.

subtly and seamlessly

So far, however, land on the surface of the space rock could not to anyone. – But hitting the comet did – he adds with a laugh, recalling taken once the mission of “Deep Impact”. Then the probe fired in the direction of the selected comet probe, which chipped off a portion of the surface, and the instruments onboard the probe analyze it.

– Now it is to be more sophisticated landing – acknowledges, adding that it will not be easy.

landing from a photo

– Comet is small; a few kilometers away, low density and small gravitational pull – is calculated. So how do you land on something that does not attract?

It is to maneuver the engines, highlights Rafalski to very gently and softly deposited on the ice surface probe Philae. The rear seat has been selected much earlier, after a long analysis performed from a distance images.

The mathematical precision

Mathematical calculation has to To minimize the risk of “landslides” sampler, which would be devastating. The plan assumes that the probe landed successfully harpoons pockets in the surface anchoring on rushing through the cosmos rock.

When Philae detaches from the Rosetta probe “parked” near the comet. Then the scientists will work on getting even better connection with Rosetta. This will enable the efficient transfer of information obtained from ten different instruments of research on agency servers.

A key element of “Made in Poland”

One of the key instruments on board Philae is the work of Polish scientists. Torun astronomer likens it to the s zpikulca to be stuck in the comet’s surface to a depth of about 20 inches.

– Examine the temperature, chemical composition and check or a layer of ice is hard and thick, or it can be easy to break – explains. Will also be explored “nebulous envelope” crawling space object, called a coma.