ROSETTA’S LANDING SITE HAS BEEN DECIDED
by Hazed
More exciting space news from the Rosetta mission to comet 67P: the European Space Agency has decided where on the comet the space probe’s lander should – well – land!
The Philae lander is going to touch down on a region at the top of the rock given the name Site J. Stephan Ulamec, who is in charge of the lander’s operations, explained that, “the comet is a beautiful but dramatic world – it is scientifically exciting, but its shape makes it operationally challenging.” He said that there is no ideal spot to land, and none of the possible landing sites fit all of the operational criteria, but Site J was the best solution.
Even so, some estimates have put the chance of success at roughly 75% so the seven-hour landing process in November is going to be a nail-biting operation. I’ll report on it when it happens.
Source: http://io9.com/the-landing-site-on-comet-churymov-gerasimenko-has-been-1634786155
