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Rosetta Comet Mission Could Change Science Forever
Rosetta Fuels Debate on Origin of Earth's Oceans: The Rosetta spacecraft has found the water vapour from its target comet to be significantly different to that found on Earth. The discovery fuels the debate on the origin of our planet's oceans.
Rosetta Orbiter Continues Into Its Full Science Phase: With the Philae lander’s mission complete, Rosetta will now continue its own extraordinary exploration, orbiting Comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko during the coming year as the enigmatic body arcs ever closer to our Sun.
Philae Completes Main Mission Before Hibernation: Just prior to depleting its batteries and falling silent, Philae returned science data from its instruments, including ROLIS, COSAC, Ptolemy, SD2 and CONSERT, completing the measurements planned for the final block of experiments on the comet's surface.
How (And Where) Is Philae?: Many of Philae's key instruments have been activated and are autonomously running while the lander is out of radio contact with the Rosetta orbiter. Collecting their precious data hinges on the state of Philae's exhausting batteries when Rosetta's orbit returns it above the comet's horizon.
Philae Lander Is Frantically Doing Improvised Science As Its Batteries Die: Less than two days after its historic landing, Rosetta's probe may be reaching its final hours, and the scientific team is racing to collect as much data as possible before Philae's batteries run out. It's do or die, and at this point there's very little to lose in terms of its lifespan.
Philae's Battery Might Die Soon: The lander isn't getting enough light to recharge its pack.
Comet Lander Stuck against Bottom of Shady Cliff: Philae's solar panels will get just three hours of light per day, hindering Philae's science goals.
Rosetta: Concerns For Comet Lander After Uneven Landing: After a historic but awkward comet landing, the robot probe Philae is now stable and sending pictures - but there are concerns about its battery life. After two bounces, the first one about 1km back out into space, the lander settled in the shadow of a cliff, 1km from its target site.
Three Touchdowns For Rosetta's Lander: The lander remains unanchored to the surface at an as yet undetermined orientation. The science instruments are running and are delivering images and data, helping the team to learn more about the final landing site.
Rosetta: Waiting Game After Comet Lander Glitch: Data indicates that the Philae lander may have bounced twice, taking a full two hours to come to a rest.
Philae Lander Stable on Comet, for Now: Philae seems to have landed, bounced and then settled back down again, even though its harpoons apparently failed to secure the craft to the surface.
Philae Lander Touches Down On Comet 67P: Philae has landed. The Rosetta orbiter on Wednesday 11.12.14 dropped a spidery, three-legged robot the size of a small refrigerator and watched as it tentatively set down on a comet - the first time that the surface of these primordial balls of dust and ice has ever been explored.
- Alone No More
- Martian Meteorite ALH84001 Harbinger of Extraterrestrial Life
- Check out Bob's Martian Touchdown - A Rockhound's Cosmic Encounter with Three Extraterrestrials
- Curiosity on Mars
- The Landing: Another Small Step for Man - A Giant Leap for Robot Kind
- The Landing Site: The Geological Jackpot at Gale Crater
- Curiosity: The Escalade of Mars Rovers
- The Science Payload: Rock Zappers and the Search for Biosignatures
- Want to Know More? References and Further Reading
- The Landing Site: The Geological Jackpot at Gale Crater
Picture Perfect Proof That Mars Once Had Wet Seasons: Curiosity has imaged cross-bedded sandstones at the edge of a location called Hidden Valley, providing compelling photographic evidence there were regular cycles of water carrying plumes of river sediments flowing into the lake which once filled Gale crater.
Latest Selfie from Curiosity Shows Wide Context: A sweeping view of the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop on Mars, where NASA's Curiosity rover has been working for five months, surrounds Curiosity in the rover's latest self-portrait.
Curiosity Analyzing Sample of Martian Mountain: The second bite of a Martian mountain taken by Curiosity hints at long-ago effects of water that was more acidic than any evidenced in the rover's first taste of Mount Sharp, a layered rock record of ancient Martian environments. Curiosity used a new, low-percussion-level drilling technique to collect sample powder from a rock target called "Mojave 2."
Mars Orbiter Spies Curiosity Rover at Work: An image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captures Curiosity on its walkabout examination of the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop.
Crystal-Rich Rock 'Mojave' is Next Mars Drill Target: This target, called "Mojave," displays copious slender features, slightly smaller than grains of rice, that appear to be mineral crystals. The features might be a salt mineral left behind when lakewater evaporated.
Curiosity Finds Active and Ancient Organic Chemistry on Mars: Curiosity has measured a tenfold spike in methane, an organic chemical, in the atmosphere around it and detected other organic molecules in a rock-powder sample collected by the robotic laboratory's drill. This temporary increase in methane - sharply up and then back down - indicates there must be some relatively localized source.
NASA Goddard Instrument Makes First Detection of Organic Matter on Mars: The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite on the Curiosity rover has made the first definitive detection of organic molecules at Mars. The organic molecules were detected in a drilled sample of the Sheepbed mudstone in Gale crater, the landing site for the Curiosity rover.
Curiosity Finds Clues to How Water Helped Shape Martian Landscape: Observations by Curiosity indicate Mars' Mount Sharp was built by sediments deposited in a large lake bed over tens of millions of years. This interpretation of Curiosity's finds in Gale Crater suggests ancient Mars maintained a climate that could have produced long-lasting lakes at many locations on the Red Planet.
More Curiosity in the News
Moon's Magnetic Heart Still A Mystery: Today, the Moon has no global magnetic field. But billions of years ago the Moon had a magnetic field much stronger than the Earth does now. Prehistoric Platypus-like Reptile Uncovered: A bizarre 248-million-year-old fossil of a prehistoric platypus-like species of marine reptile with a short neck and duck-like beak has been discovered by paleontologists in China. Although it's a very different animal, Eohupehsuchus brevicollis had a skull and beak like a duck without teeth, a very heavily built body with thick bones, and paddles to swim through the water. Researchers Confirm That Fracking Caused Ohio's Earthquake Swarm: Poland Township, in northeastern Ohio, never used to experience any seismic activity. But that was before the fracking started. The Geology Of Middle-Earth: Since the release of "The Fellowship of the Ring" in 2001, millions of tourists have flocked to the Southern Hemisphere to see "The Lord of the Rings" movie backdrops for themselves. Just as enthralling as Tolkien’s mythical prehistory is another, considerably longer epic tale of the geology of New Zealand's landscape, which formed over hundreds of millions of years. New, Tighter Timeline Confirms Ancient Volcanism Aligned With Dinosaurs' Extinction: A definitive geological timeline shows that a series of massive eruptions 66 million years ago in a primeval volcanic range in western India known as the Deccan Traps played a role in the extinction event that claimed Earth's non-avian dinosaurs, and challenges the dominant theory that a meteorite impact was the sole cause of the extinction. Where In the World Are The Fossil Fuels That Cannot Be Burned To Restrain Global Warming?: Canada, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. cannot burn much of the coal, oil and gas located within their national territories if the world wants to restrain global warming. Which Fossil Fuel Reserves Must Stay In The Ground To Avoid Dangerous Climate Change?: According to new research, a third of oil reserves, half of gas reserves and over 80% of current coal reserves globally should remain in the ground and not be used before 2050 if global warming is to stay below the 2°C target agreed by policy makers. Study Casts Doubt On Mammoth-killing Cosmic Impact: New research indicates that rock soil droplets formed by heating most likely came from Stone Age house fires and not from a disastrous cosmic impact 12,900 years ago. A study of soil from Syria is the latest to discredit the controversial theory that a cosmic impact triggered the Younger Dryas cold period. Eight New Planets Found In 'Goldilocks' Zone: Astronomers have announced the discovery of eight new planets in the "Goldilocks" zone of their stars, orbiting at a distance where liquid water can exist on the planet's surface, doubling the number of small planets believed to be in the habitable zone of their parent stars. Among these eight, two are the most similar to Earth of any known exoplanets to date. Fly-By View Of Europa's Stunning Surface: Located deep under the frozen crust of Jupiter's moon Europa is a global ocean containing more water than on all of Earth. On Earth whereever there's water there is life, and the question that fascinates scientists is whether the same could be true on Europa. More Rocks in the News
Utah Goblin Topplers Sentenced To Probation : Glenn Tuck Taylor and David Benjamin Hall may have to shell out thousands to pay for warning signs telling future visitors to Goblin Valley State Park to leave the rocks alone. The men were sentenced to a year of probation without jail time and payment of restitution after pleading guilty to knocking over an ancient rock formation in the state park.
Ex-Boy Scout Leaders Charged With Felonies: It just took a little push to topple the delicately perched boulder - millions of years in the making - in Utah's Goblin Valley State Park. Then the man who did it laughed, high-fived his son, and flexed his muscles while being cheered on by a fellow Boy Scout leader. He is not likely celebrating now, nor is his friend who videotaped then publicized the episode, after both were charged with third-degree felonies. Boy Scouts Toss 2 Leaders Who Knocked Over Goblin: A northern Utah Boy Scouts council has announced that former Boy Scout leaders Glenn Taylor and Dave Hall will no longer be allowed to lead scouting troops as a result of their vandalism of Goblin Valley State Park. Boy Scout Leaders Destroy Ancient Formation In Utah's Goblin Valley: Boy Scout and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints youth leaders Dave Hall, Glenn Taylor and Dylan Taylor are potentially facing felony charges for destroying a rock formation nearly 200 million years old. The trio of vandals was adventuring in Utah's Goblin Valley State Park when they decided to film themselves knocking over one of the formations, known as "Goblins."
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