Preparations are ongoing to resume the originally planned science operations on July 7 and to conduct the entire close flyby sequence as planned. The mission science team and principal investigator have concluded that the science observations lost during the anomaly recovery do not affect any primary objectives of the mission, with a minimal effect on lesser objectives.
Source: NASA’s New Horizons Plans July 7 Return to Normal Science Operations
For 85 seconds Philae “spoke” with its team on ground, via Rosetta, in the first contact since going into hibernation in November.
Source: Rosetta’s lander Philae wakes up from hibernation | Rosetta – ESA’s comet chaser
Now the scientists are waiting for the next contact. There are still more than 8000 data packets in Philae’s mass memory which will give the DLR team information on what happened to the lander in the past few days on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Short recap: Philae is the craft that landed on the comet and Rosetta is circling about being the direct link to the lander kind of like how Apollo missions operated for manned moon landings. Both Philae and Rosetta travelled to the comet together and then 211 days ago Rosetta launched Philae onto the surface of the comet where it bounced funny landing next to a cliff that blocked sunlight to its solar panels. Apparently it now has gathered enough juice to be somewhat operational. This is quite an amazing feat involving every STEM discipline from mathematics to rocket science.
I wonder if they’ll reconsider shutting down this program as mentioned here.
xkcd has been all over this story from the landing; From: http://xkcd.com/1446/
The mission is currently set to end in December 2015, after which Rosetta could simply be switched off as it continues to orbit the comet, and the mission team disperse to work on new projects. But for several months now a plan has been quietly hatched to see the craft go out with a bang by being brought down to a collision with 67P.
Source: Rosetta team propose ending mission by landing on comet – Sen.com
It would see the spacecraft brought gradually closer to the comet in a slowly spiralling orbit that would allow its cameras and instruments to gain ever more detailed views and measurements of the twin-lobed icy body. Then eventually—probably in September 2016—it would collide with the comet, bringing the mission to an end.
The Rosetta spacecraft detected the molecular nitrogen using the probe’s ROSINA instrument (Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis) between Oct. 17 and 23, 2014. At the time, Rosetta was orbiting just 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) from Comet 67P’s center.
Anousheh is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder and chairman of Prodea Systems, a company that will unleash the power of the Internet to all consumers and dramatically alter and simplify consumer’s digital living experience. Prior to founding Prodea Systems, Anousheh served as co-founder, CEO and chairman of Telecom Technologies, Inc. The company successfully merged with Sonus Networks, Inc., in 2000.
via Anousheh Ansari – About Anousheh Ansari.
This is an amazing story of accomplishment. It appears from her Prodea Systems website the company sells home automation and now Internet of Things which is a popular buzzword nowadays. This company made her enough money so she could buy a trip to ISS in 2006.
New Horizons is now so far away that radio signals traveling at the speed of light take four hours and 25 minutes to reach Earth.
The scientific observation of Pluto, its entourage of moons and other bodies in the solar system’s frozen backyard begins Jan. 15, program managers said. The closest approach is expected on July 14.
via Pluto-bound spacecraft ends hibernation to start mission | Reuters.
From https://twitter.com/Philae2014
More stunning images from this historic voyage here.
From xkcd….
See the full xkcd animation at http://xkcd.com/1446/
Two robust landing scenarios have been identified, one for the primary site and one for the backup. Both anticipate separation and landing on 12 November.
For the primary landing scenario, targeting Site J, Rosetta will release Philae at 08:35 GMT/09:35 CET at a distance of 22.5 km from the centre of the comet, landing about seven hours later. The one-way signal travel time between Rosetta and Earth on 12 November is 28 minutes 20 seconds, meaning that confirmation of the landing will arrive at Earth ground stations at around 16:00 GMT/17:00 CET.
via Rosetta to deploy lander on 12 November / Rosetta / Space Science / Our Activities / ESA.