krpalmer | Off on a Comet (Reply)

I have been paying attention to the news that the European space probe Rosetta has reached the comet it's spent ten years in space heading towards. (Matching velocities with a celestial object to go into orbit around it does take longer than just flying past it.) The pictures already returned have caught my interest as craggier-looking than the closeups of astroids I've seen, which of course aren't as likely to melt close to the Sun. However, I did happen to see a comparison picture of comets close up, and they do seem to have something of the same look to them. I suppose that in acknowledging this I'm getting to the point where looking for further updates will manage to slip my mind, but I do know an attempt will be made in several months' time to try and secure a lander package to the comet's surface itself. However, all the news reports about that I've seen do seem to amount to "it'll be nice if this actually works."