Tomorrow’s The Big Day For Philae!

Tomorrow the first ever soft landing on a comet is scheduled.  Touchdown should be Wednesday, at 3:35 a.m. Eastern time.

The Philae landing site covers about a third of a square mile.  Hopefully, the area is smooth and clear of obstructiongs.  However, because it is a comet, Philae will still be close to streams of dust and gas shooting off the surface.

After Philae detaches from Rosetta, it will be pulled down to the surface by the comet’s gravity.  Due to the distance from Earth, 300 million miles, the ESA control room will have to wait almost 30 minutes to find out whether the landing was successful.

The downward journey will about seven hours before Philae lands. To keep the lander from bouncing off the surface after touchdown, thrusters will fire while a harpoon and anchors in the lander’s legs will firmly attach Philae to the comet.  Very Moby Dick.

After that, the science begins and hopefully the little lander that could won’t be blown off into space by the comet’s ex-gassing.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California and I am a Rising Star as rated by Super Lawyers Magazine.  As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman

ESA’s Spacecraft On Track To Find Even More Planets.

The recently launched Gaia spacecraft could detect could 21,000 exoplanets during its five year mission to construct a 3D space catalog of approximately 1 billion astronomical objects.

 

When Gaia reached its final mission point, the spacecraft literally turned its back on us.

That’s because the Sun  shade, deployed after launch, generates power for the craft and blocks the sunlight, giving the optics a perfect view of the galaxy.

Although its primary mission is to map stars, a byproduct of all the images taken will be data that can be attributed to exoplanets.  Due to the accuracy of the images that GAIA will take, a lot of new science is bound to be discovered.  Researchers haven’t even finished processing the data from Kepler, so this will keep everyone busy even longer.

Exciting times ahead.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California and I am a Rising Star as rated by Super Lawyers Magazine.  As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman

Name That Landing Site!

The ESA is asking the public to name the landing site on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko where the Philae robot probe will try to land on 12 November.

Any name (except individual’s names) can be entered. The rules call for a maximum 200-word justification to be submitted in support of a proposal. (I’m voting for Osiris).  Entries have to be received before Thursday GMT next week.

The judging panel will announce the winner on 3 November.  Full details can be found here.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California and I am a Rising Star as rated by Super Lawyers Magazine.  As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman

Europes Answer To The Shuttle.

The European Space Agency is readying its first-ever “space plane” for sub-orbit for tests.

The Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) is undergoing final ground tests, before being launched from Kourou in French Guiana.

The sneaker-shaped IXV will be launched from a Vega rocket to a height of 450 kilometres (280 miles) for a 100 minute flight test.

The IXV will then re-enter Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 28,000 km/h over the Pacific Ocean, plunge into the water and then be picked up by a ship.

300 sensors in the IXV are set to collect flight data including the all important aerothermodynamics data for the heat shield.

 

Built from high-tech ceramics and carbon-fibre, and low-tech cork,  IXV is 5.0 metres (16 feet) long and 2.2 metres wide, the same size as a medium-sized car.

The IXV was developed over five years at a cost of 150 million euros ($193 million), which is in keeping with the new approaches to space flight.  The main purpose of the test is to come back safely.

This inexpensive shuttle would be very welcome and could be very lucrative for the ESA, as there are no other nations currently this far along with a shuttle replacement.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California and I am a Rising Star as rated by Super Lawyers Magazine.  As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman

Shields Up! Changes In The Earth’s Protective Magneticosphere.

The ESA’s trio of magnetic field mapping satellites have returned an image of an ever changing magnetic field.

The three satellites were launched in September of 2013 and are the first mission to really try to understand how the Earth’s magnetic field works.

The swarm covers the Earth in slightly odd orbits.  Two of the satellites parallel each other and one, in a higher orbit, crosses the others at a 90 degree angle.

We know that the Earth’s magnetic field protects us from the various radiation bombardments of the Sun and space in general.  But we don’t really know that much about it.  We know that about every 450,000 the magnetic poles flip and the north and south magnetic poles change.

The static image above is a composite of the findings.  However, you can watch an animation of the changes that the satellites have observed here.  It is much more telling of how much the magnetic field actually does change.

It will be interesting to see more discoveries from the swarm as time goes by.  The data could help predict weather patterns, solar storm patterns and a host of other phenomena related to the magnetosphere.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California and I am a Rising Star as rated by Super Lawyers Magazine.  As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman

Touchdown! Well Almost.

The ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft is about 100km (62 miles) from comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko (thankfully reduced to Chury)

Chury was discovered by Klim Ivanovych Churyumov and Svetlana Ivanovna Gerasimenko on 11 September 1969 at the Alma-Ata Astrophysical Institute.  Like all comets, the finders names are used to tag the comet (I just wonder why I have never seen a Smith or Jones comet, or for that fact any popular last names).

In about six weeks from now, the spacecraft will be at its closest to the comet.

After scanning the surface, Rosetta will drop the “Philae” landing module that will hopefully ride the comet as it passes closest to the Sun and deliver never before gathered cometary data.

Hopefully, the landing site won’t be over a potential vent that blows the lander off the comet.

I am almost giddy with geek excitement.  Comets are so old they can tell us much about what went on in the early solar system.  BTW, when I discover my first comet or planet, which ever comes first, you have my permission to call it “Normie”.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California and I am a Rising Star as rated by Super Lawyers Magazine.  As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman