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It's time for Europe's comet probe, Rosetta, to die. At 4:48pm ET (20:48 UTC) Thursday, the spacecraft fired its thruster for 208 seconds, setting Rosetta on course for a controlled descent to the surface of its comet on Friday morning at approximately 7:20am ET (12:20 UTC).
In accord with the spacecraft's descent to the surface, the European Space Agency will provide live coverage via Livestream about an hour before the landing time. The live video will feature status updates from mission controllers live from the European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany.
The spacecraft should touch down at a walking pace, then be commanded to shut down.
Signal Lost as expected at 12:18 UTC
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UPDATE: Rosetta to Finish its Slow Descent to Comet's Surface Friday Morning - SIGNAL LOST
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 30 2016, @08:36AM
Rationally, it makes sense, but I can imagine many people involved in the project are also a little sad to see it go. If you devote years of your life to something like this, you will probably grow attached to it, and knowing the craft is destroyed and you will never receive another transmission from it must be saddening. For the operators, it's the end of an era.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 30 2016, @08:56AM
The Chief Scientist mentioned this very fact.
The project began in the early 1980s and started recruiting staff shortly thereafter. Some of the team have spent almost their entire working life on this one project. He said that there were very mixed emotions in the control room today. Many of those present are hoping to achieve another success but knowing it comes at the cost of the Rosetta craft. There is, of course, many years work left for most of the team. Not only those who will analyse the data, but others who will look at all phases of the project and see what lessons can be learned for the future. Of course, they don't all pack their bags at 5pm and go home. I do hope that they have some time for a holiday and a celebration though...