WHAT A DAY: So much to report on the #CometLander front, news both good and bad.
This infographic from Space.com does a great job of explaining what happened to Philae during its touchdowns.
Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration.
http://www.space.com/27767-philae-comet-landing-nearly-failed-infographic.html?adbid=10152451575581466&adbpl=fb&adbpr=17610706465&cmpid=514630_20141114_35609477
Despite Philae being stuck at the foot of an icy cliff, the Little Lander that Could got down to business.
Around 4 p.m. this afternoon Seattle time, an ESA Facebook post read: "HAAA!! #Armageddon? The Rosetta Mission just made comet drilling fact! Hopefully catching the first comet sample EVER. Go Philae!"
The screen shot below accompanied the post.
But try as she might, Philae was fighting an uphill battle. It was a race against the clock. Best case scenario, Philae was supposed to have about 60 hours of power, but its unexpected landing spot, coupled with some solar panel troubles, cut that working time by nearly 20 percent.
While news of Philae hard at work was exciting, it was very quickly followed by reports of its failing power.
Battery voltage is approaching limit soon now. Tough little Philae still hanging in there, exploring to the end!
And then around 5:50 our time, this Facebook post:
And then this ...
Great job with all the data, Philae, and sleep tight on Comet 67P/C-G!
Loss of signal at 01:36 CET. No more comms with Philae. All science data from First Science Sequence was successfully downloaded.
Aw. Philae, gone too soon ... From the Tweets and Facebook posts I read, people were downright bereft that Philae had slipped into the Big Sleep. I read one Tweet today that noted it was probably a bad thing that the ESA anthropomorphosized the lander. Just look at the little thing bravely ready to jump down off Rosetta and onto a comet!
OUR LANDER’S ASLEEP
With its batteries depleted and not enough sunlight available to recharge, Philae has fallen into 'idle mode' for a potentially long silence. In this mode, all instruments and most systems on board are shut down.
"Prior to falling silent, the lander was able to transmit all science data gathered during the First Science Sequence," says DLR's Stephan Ulamec, Lander Manager, who was in the Main Control Room at ESOC tonight.
"This machine performed magnificently under tough conditions, and we can be fully proud of the incredible scientific success Philae has delivered."
Contact was lost at 00:36 UTC / 01:36 CET, not long before the scheduled communication loss that would have happened anyway as Rosetta orbited below the horizon.
From now on, no contact would be possible unless sufficient sunlight falls on the solar panels to generate enough power to wake it up.
The possibility that this may happen was boosted this evening when mission controllers sent commands to rotate the lander's main body, to which the solar panels are fixed. This may have exposed more panel area to sunlight.
The next possible communication slot begins on 15 November at about 10:00 UTC / 11:00 CET. The orbiter will listen for a signal, and will continue doing so when its orbit enables communication visibility in the future.
The hugely successful Rosetta mission will continue, as the spacecraft tracks comet 67P/C-G on its journey to the Sun. Rosetta is the first spacecraft to rendezvous with and orbit a comet and has already returned incredible scientific data.Is this the end for Philae? Maybe ... but maybe not. Only time will tell.
ON A WING AND A PRAYER: Apparently overnight, our resident Dinovember merrymakers got the crazy notion that they could fly.
Problem is, none of them are pterodactyls.
They managed to board the wings, but wound up on the ground within seconds of the kids stirring this morning.
MUSIC: The kids are still plugging away on guitar. Today they worked on a happy ditty,
"Best Day of My Life" by American Authors. They've been without formal guitar lessons for a couple months or more now, but between what they already know, what I know, and the magic of YouTube tutorials, we're able to work our way through most any song.
"Best Day of My Life" by American Authors. They've been without formal guitar lessons for a couple months or more now, but between what they already know, what I know, and the magic of YouTube tutorials, we're able to work our way through most any song.
After looking at a couple online lessons, I settled on one by by PapastachePop. After a couple of watches and run throughs, they were able to play something that sounded mostly like the song. Nice!
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