a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by mechanosm
mechanosm  ·  3668 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Philae has landed! (We landed on a comet. +1 for humans)

I was amazed to learn that Philae was supposed to harpoon the comet! That's pretty awesome. I guess the mass of the comet is too small to attract the lander enough. Makes sense that it needs to attach itself in some way.





veen  ·  3668 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yes, I read somewhere the comet has about 10,000 times less gravity than Earth. Philae thus had not only harpoons, but also thrusters on top (which apparently failed) and ice drills.

Current status: