Here's a look back at the 10 years leading up to Rosetta's comet rendevous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEQuE5N3rwQ&feature=youtu.be"Oh my god, all the math," CJ marveled as we watched the video.
"Those people should be awfully proud of themselves," Annabelle chimed in.
We watched with interest as Rosetta was awakened earlier this year after 957 days in hibernation. During the journey, Rosetta used gravity slingshots from Earth and Mars to reach its final destination. Now at her destination, Rosetta is already beaming lots o' photos back to Earth, including this amazing close up detail of a smooth region on the base of the ‘body’ section of comet 67P/C-G.
According to an ESA press release, the image, taken from a distance of 130 km and the image resolution is 2.4 metres per pixel, was taken by Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera earlier today. It shows boulders, craters and steep cliffs.
A multinational effort, NASA and U.S. scientists are involved in seven of the mission's 21 instrument collaborations. Composed of an orbiter and lander, Rosetta's objectives upon arrival at
comet 67P/C-G are to study the celestial
object in unprecedented detail, prepare for landing a probe on
the comet's nucleus in November, and track its changes as it sweeps past
the sun.
It's so amazing to lasso a comet, so to speak. As NASA pointed out in a press release today, "Comets are time capsules containing primitive material left over from
the epoch when the sun and its planets formed. Rosetta's lander will
obtain the first images taken from a comet's surface and will provide
the first analysis of a comet's composition by drilling into the
surface. Rosetta also will be the first spacecraft to witness at close
proximity how a comet changes as it is subjected to the increasing
intensity of the sun's radiation. Observations will help scientists
learn more about the origin and evolution of our solar system and the
role comets may have played in seeding Earth with water, and perhaps
even life." Woohoo! (That last word is my quote, not NASA's.)
CLASSY: The kids and I started a -week Coursera class today, "The Camera Never Lies." Offered by the University of London, the course is about "film, images & historical interpretation in the 20th century for those who have a general interest in history that draws on photojournalism as primary evidence, and films based on historical events," per its class description on Coursera.
Our instructor is Dr Emmett Sullivan, Senior Tutor in the History Department, Royal Holloway, University of London.
We powered through the first week's videos today, and we learned so much. Having used Photoshop extensively, we're well aware of the power and frequency of manipulation of images in today's world but OMG - the media has been manipulating images since the 1800s - and likely long before! No doubt the hieroglyphs are suspect. ...
Between lectures, I talked to the kids about how back in the day, in my 20 years of journalism, I'd go to an archive and pull an original negative or microfiche, or even archived paper document as my way of tracing history. What will reporters do even 5 years from now? Yeah, sure you can find a copy of a copy of a copy of a digital image online, but where are today's 'negatives' in a digital world?
That said, how interesting that people have been faking since forever.
One example Dr. Sullivan pointed to was a Library his print (Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division) which appears to be of General Ulysses S. Grant in front of his troops at City Point, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Some detective work by researchers at the Library of Congress revealed that this print is a composite of three separate prints: (1) the head in this photo is taken from a portrait of Grant; (2) the horse and body are those of Major General Alexander M. McCook; and (3) the background is of Confederate prisoners captured at the battle of Fisher’s Hill, Virginia.
My compliments to the chef, er, I mean fraud! Well done, especially in the pre-Photoshop world!
There are so many other examples. Dr. Sullivan kept referencing something called Four and Six. We learned it's a Web site that tracks photographic authenticity. I can't encourage you enough to check them out;
Christian figured out tonight that their name is a play on forensics.
Faked photos - What a revelation, though if one had thought about it for a while one might have suspected at least the possibility.
ReplyDeleteThe Rosetta rendezvous is an astounding achievement. Now if the landing and the instruments work we'll have a bonanza that will last years.