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Humans Just Got Our First Close-Up Look At A Comet And It's Mind-Blowing
BI ^ | 9-8-2014 | Jessica Orwig

Posted on 09/18/2014 11:15:44 AM PDT by blam

 

Jessica Orwig
September. 18, 2014.

Ten years ago the European Space Agency launched Rosetta, a first-of-its-kind spacecraft on a mission to meet a comet.

That comet? 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

It finally accomplished that goal earlier this month — getting into the comet's orbit. But it's not done yet.

This November, Rosetta will deploy a small probe that, if successful, will land on the comet — the first time we've ever made contact with a space rock (intentionally).

Before Rosetta, we knew comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as just a speck of light — as we do most comets. It's hard to really see what a comet is like because comets are extremely small. Here's what 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko looks like from Earth:

(snip)

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: churyumovgerasimenko; comet67p; cometprobe; comets; esa; philae; rosetta; space
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1 posted on 09/18/2014 11:15:44 AM PDT by blam
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To: blam
Looks like a flashlight to me:


2 posted on 09/18/2014 11:22:46 AM PDT by Slyfox (Satan's goal is to rub out the image of God he sees in the face of every human.)
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To: blam

That photo is staged. What it really is is a dash cam view of a motorcycle coming at you on a rainy misty night on a two lane county road.


3 posted on 09/18/2014 11:25:32 AM PDT by TaMoDee (Go Pack Go! The Pack will be back in 2014!)
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To: blam
The Philae probe landing site:


4 posted on 09/18/2014 11:26:21 AM PDT by Prospero (Si Deus trucido mihi, ego etiam fides Deus.)
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To: Prospero

To quote C.Brown..

I got a rock.


5 posted on 09/18/2014 11:28:24 AM PDT by Bidimus1
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To: Bidimus1

I agree, Prospero. Current status: Mind not blown...


6 posted on 09/18/2014 11:30:16 AM PDT by jimmygrace
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Another Cecil deMille
7 posted on 09/18/2014 11:30:40 AM PDT by mikrofon (APOD Bump)
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To: Slyfox

Blimey mate......... that’s a torch


8 posted on 09/18/2014 11:31:18 AM PDT by bert ((K.E.; N.P.; GOPc.;+12 ..... Obama is public enemy #1)
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To: blam

Very cool pictures.


9 posted on 09/18/2014 11:32:11 AM PDT by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: Prospero

That’s really cool. Read somewhere that the comet is about 3 miles wide. Had no idea that they were that large. Still the gravity is microscopic, so the lander has to anchor itself with a spearing thing. And to make the landing more interesting, the comet is rotating.


10 posted on 09/18/2014 11:35:35 AM PDT by Dagnabitt (Psst - Don't tell ISIS about all the Mossad agents in their ranks!)
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To: Slyfox

Swamp Gas!


11 posted on 09/18/2014 11:37:12 AM PDT by bubbacluck (America 180)
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To: blam
This November, Rosetta will deploy a small probe that, if successful, will land on the comet — the first time we've ever made contact with a space rock (intentionally).

Who is "we"?

Define "space rock".

The US NEAR Shoemaker mission ended by intentionally landing on the tumbling asteroid it had been studying.

The Japanese Hayabusa mission was able to snag some dust off the surface of an asteroid.

I'm sure the Rosetta people learned from both NEAR Shoemaker and Hayabusa, since neither went exactly as planned.

12 posted on 09/18/2014 11:54:20 AM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: jimmygrace

13 posted on 09/18/2014 11:55:50 AM PDT by Paine in the Neck (Socialism consumes EVERYTHING)
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To: blam

Comet....it'll make your teeth turn green
Comet....it tastes like gasoline
Comet....it'll make you vomit
So get some Comet, and vomit, today.

14 posted on 09/18/2014 11:59:19 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Prospero

Hmmmmmm, maybe contain “yellow metal that drives white man crazy”.


15 posted on 09/18/2014 12:02:16 PM PDT by Bringbackthedraft (Hillary or Warren 2016! Why? Just to have a woman for Historical Purpose?? At least pick a looker!)
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To: Prospero

So much for the theory that a comet is a “dirty snowball.”


16 posted on 09/18/2014 12:04:12 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: Paine in the Neck

Cool photoshop. Puts some feeling into human scale, seeing as how comets are “tiny” as far as astronomical objects go.


17 posted on 09/18/2014 12:06:42 PM PDT by Cboldt
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To: bert
Blimey mate......... that’s a torch

Right-O. That's what one looks like when a Bobby shines it across your bonnet through your windscreen, which may or may not be made of Perpsex.

18 posted on 09/18/2014 12:10:08 PM PDT by Quality_Not_Quantity (Liars use facts when the truth doesn't suit their purposes.)
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To: blam

Thanks blam - cool pictures...


19 posted on 09/18/2014 12:35:32 PM PDT by GOPJ (Great causes begin as movements, becomes a business, then degenerates into a racket.Eric Hoffer)
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To: blam

Thanks blam - cool pictures... I’m surprised they were expecting moisture... that’s always felt like myth...


20 posted on 09/18/2014 12:36:06 PM PDT by GOPJ (Great causes begin as movements, becomes a business, then degenerates into a racket.Eric Hoffer)
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