November 12, 2014 marks a new historic and revolutionary day in the world of science as humanity accomplished a new astronomical achievement: landing a robotic spacecraft onto a comet.
More specifically, the European Space Agency (ESA) landed the Philae Lander onto the comet .67P/Churyunmov-Gerasimenko. The operation to commit this feat came at the price of over 21 years in preparation and $1.75 billion of taxed from participating nations.
A Background to the Journey
The journey began in the 1970’s when the ESA originally started drafting plans to land on a comet. It wasn’t until November of 1993 that the Science Programme Committee approved of the mission’s full details and plans. The project was originally called the Comet Nucleus Sample Return (CNSR), but it eventually was renamed Rosetta after the legendary Rosetta stone that helped decipher historical hieroglyphs.
The orbiter Rosetta left Earth in March of 2004 along with Philae Lander, a curious washing machine-sized robotic lander that would eventually be used–if the mission was successful–to land on the comet and collect data. The lander was named after an island in the Nile; apparently, without an obelisk found on the island, historians would not have been able to decipher the Rosetta stone completely.
Bumpy Landing
The big day came 10 years and 6.4 billion kilometers later when Philae was finally launched onto 67P, the beloved comet which Rosetta has been chasing after since the spacecrafts journey began. The intentional plan was to use thrusters to safely land Philae onto a sturdy, flat part of the comet and harpoons were supposed to release to lock the Lander safely onto the surface.
However, not all went as planned. The harpoons never activated, resulting in Philae Lander bumping onto the comet’s surface thrice.
Fortunately, Philae had made little to no damage since it continued communication with Rosetta and its instruments still worked properly. It did, however, land onto a different region of the comet than expected, causing some fear in the directors to move it originally. Lead lander scientist Dr. Jean-Pierre Bibring believes that, in spite of this, the overall mission has been quite a success.
“It’s gorgeous where we are,” he says concerning the Lander’s positions along with the ESA’s achievements with the operation.
The Thump Heard Around the World
In other news concerning the landing, the audio record of its final stop have been the focus and center of the entire mission. The audio itself was valuable information to the researching scientists who will analyze the recording to determine various components concerning the comet’s surface, according to the Washington Post.
Images of 67P from a distance have been taken by both Philae and Rosetta; these photos were released to the press, showing high resolution and in-depth photography. Pixels could be measured to determine in depth the size, and according to The Express–an Online British news website–P67 is measured at “4.1 km wide and 3.2 km tall.”
There are also images online that show 67P is 3D, using retro red and blue imagery to illustrate the dimensional effects.
The Main Mission
One of the greatest goals that the mission attempted to accomplish was to analyze the comet and discover if other comets were the cause for key elements of life on Earth. It is a well-known fact that comets are considered as the oldest remnants of the beginning of the universe, and it has been hypothesized for decades now that they brought water and life to Earth.
With messages sent back to Earth from Philae, it has been announced that it senses organic molecules in the air surrounding the comet. With further analyses made by scientists with soil samples from the comet, it could be determined once and for all if comets are the cause of our existence.
Hibernation
Not all can go quite as planned, however, since after 57 hours of data collection and analysis, Philae went into hibernation mode. Due to the previous stated issues with the landing, the lander ended up in a crater where it was devoid of any solar power to re-energize its battery. There are still hopes that, one day; Philae will wake up once again.
A Feminist Attack
The British project scientist Matt Taylor was responsible for the entire project, making him considerably one of the most successful scientists of our time. Interestingly enough, he does not physically fit the ideal image of a scientist; Rich Lowry from the New York Post comments that “the bearded Taylor has enough tattoos to compete with the average rock star.”
That being said, contemporary feminists went into a complete rage shortly after an interview with Matt Taylor–in which he wore what is described as a Hawaiian shirt consisting of enticing cartoon women with weapons at hand, some even fighting dragons. Granted it was not the average attire one would wear while in a legendary interview, but this is a new age and a not-so-cliche scientist.
While most of the outraged feminists took their opinions to social media–particularly Twitter–journalists have taken their opinions into the press against the modern day feminists. In an article against the accusations of feminists, Ayaan Hirsi Ali–an American activist who was born in Somalia where women are still treated like objects–also made a statement against them.
“[Women] used to fight for the recognition of girls as fellow human beings and recognition of their personal liberty,” she stated, followed up by journalist Ruth Dedley Edwards.
“Now, instead of going after the horrific treatment of women by radical Islam, they engaged in ‘trivial bullshit.’”
The strongest argument journalists like Edwards had was the fact that the shirt was actually made by a female friend of Taylor’s and was delighted when he wore it. The design was apparently chosen by her since it was the “most futuristic” pattern she could find.
In addition, her husband was also excited about his tattoo commission to make a design of the Philae Lander on Matt Taylor’s leg.
Arguments by the feminists faded shortly after Taylor made a public apology, his face streaked with tears.
What about NASA?
Going back to the topic of science, some may ask why it is that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) did not assist in the operation. According to Penny 4 NASA–an organization supporting the mission of increasing the budget given to the space program–the space administration did originally intend to cooperate with ESA and send a probe along with the Philae Lander.
Due to budget cutbacks, however, NASA had to cancel the operation to land onto the comet, instead going with a cheaper operation that would not be able to commit to obtaining samples from the comet. According to Penny 4 NASA, if the operation was not cancelled, America would have been able to land on a comet along with Europe.
For now, though, Rosetta is in full motion to complete its operation until December 2015 when it is to return to Earth–that is, unless Rosetta still has spare fuel and the ESA approves an extension for the operation to allow further analysis of comet behavior.