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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday July 28 2016, @03:12PM   Printer-friendly
from the it-had-a-good-run dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Everything about the Rosetta comet mission has been epic. It took 10 years for the spacecraft to reach Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which it did in 2014. Rosetta then sent its plucky little lander Philae down to the comet's surface, but a faulty thruster landed it in shadows. Unable to charge itself properly, Philae floated in and out of contact. The Rosetta team last heard from Philae way back in July 2015. It's been silent ever since.

[...] Rosetta is scheduled to wrap up its mission by descending to the comet's surface on September 30. The comet is currently heading away from the sun, which saps the spacecraft of the solar power it needs to continue operations. There is a sense of poetry to Rosetta rejoining its lander on the comet. It may mark the end of Rosetta's activities, but scientists involved in the mission will stay busy for years studying the data sent back by both the craft and the lander.


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  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @03:50PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @03:50PM (#381227)

    It's not "goodbye" but "austeroid revoir" ... what? It was a comet and not an asteroid? Um ... damn, I've got nothing.

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