Submitted via IRC for Bytram
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
(Score: 2, Informative) by Drake_Edgewater on Friday September 30 2016, @12:02PM
I found this entry very interesting. It starts talking about a 'singing comet', but then it explains the magnetic field data collected from Rosetta and the interaction between the comet and its surroundings, and how a cavity is formed as it moves closer to the Sun. There are links to the scientific papers too!
A comet's life [esa.int]