A comet-chasing space probe is due to wake up from hibernation on Monday, but scientists must wait an agonizing several hours until the craft’s signal reaches earth.
The probe Rosetta was switched back on at 11 a.m. GST for the final stage of its decade-long mission to rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The spacecraft was powered down in 2011 to conserve energy, and scientists have been in the dark about the probe’s fate ever since. The European Space Agency says the earliest it could hear the probe’s all-clear call is 6:30 p.m. GST (12:30 EST). If no signal is received by Tuesday, scientists will try to manually restart the probe from the ground.
“We don’t know the status of the spacecraft,” Paolo Ferri, head of mission operations at the European Space Agency, told the Associated Press. “There is a possibility that we’re not going to hear anything. Two-and-a-half years are a long time. We’re talking about sophisticated electronics and mechanics. We’ve taken all possible precautions for this not to happen but of course we cannot exclude that problems may have happened.”
Rosetta was created to help scientists discover the composition of comets, and in doing so unlock secrets to the evolution of the solar system. If the probe does awake, it will reach 67P in the coming months and drop a lander on its surface in November.
WE RECOMMEND
ELSEWHERE ON THE WEB
- Japan technology helps slake world's thirst for fresh water (Nikkei Asian Review)
- Images of Extreme Weather: Symbolising Human Responses to Climate Change (Taylor & Francis Online)
- China hands 'death sentence' to 75% of solar cell makers (Nikkei Asian Review)
- Jar of preserved intestine solves 1800s cholera mystery (Inquirer.net)
- ‘Hand Of God’ Appears In NASA Photograph (Inquisitr)
Read more: Rosetta Space Probe Set to Wake Up Monday | TIME.com http://science.time.com/2014/01/20/scientists-try-to-wake-up-space-probe-rosetta/#ixzz2qxMUU9Gx
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق