It's a simulation, not real video. I think those green lines are meant to show it taking photographs for the panorama of its surroundings, some in 3D that it takes after it lands.
It doesn't have any lasers in its list of instruments, pretty sure. And one of the first things it does when it lands is to take a 360 degree panorama of its surroundings, so that's why I think that's what it is. Philae’s instruments (white background)
So far the only images we have are:
Photo of Philae from Rosetta
Photo of the comet from Rolis, Philae's downward pointing camera
Photograph of Rosetta taken by Philae immediately after separation
The data rate is really slow, communicating from so far away - far too slow for live video, and it doesn't have a video camera on board anyway. So we will get stills, not video. Except - speeded up video like the video of the comet rotating, taken by stitching together lots of still photographs.
Expect more photos soon though.
Here are a few more:
- from the Guardian live feed here: Rosetta mission: Esa lands spacecraft on comet – live coverage
Latest news: Nobody can say for sure yet, but Philae may have bounced (for 2 hours between the bounces) :).
If so, its legs would have damped its velocity the first time - so - if this is the correct interpretation of the telemetry - it took off again slowly in the low gravity - and then about 2 hours later, landed again - so may have landed not once, but twice :).
And seems it was changing orientation during the bounce - flywheel was switched off after landing the first time so no longer stabilised by it. But not tumbling enough to be a problem for the second landing.
And first landing was close to the centre of the landing ellipse.
Will be out of contact with the lander now for several hours until tomorrow morning (expected). Which will give them time to analyse the telemetry also and find out more about what happened.
Update tomorrow at 1400 central European time ( 1 pm GMT)
rendezvous with a comet
It doesn't have any lasers in its list of instruments, pretty sure. And one of the first things it does when it lands is to take a 360 degree panorama of its surroundings, so that's why I think that's what it is. Philae’s instruments (white background)
So far the only images we have are:
Photo of Philae from Rosetta
Photo of the comet from Rolis, Philae's downward pointing camera
Photograph of Rosetta taken by Philae immediately after separation
The data rate is really slow, communicating from so far away - far too slow for live video, and it doesn't have a video camera on board anyway. So we will get stills, not video. Except - speeded up video like the video of the comet rotating, taken by stitching together lots of still photographs.
Expect more photos soon though.
Here are a few more:
"The Philae lander took this picture 10 km above the ‘head’ of the comet as it descended towards its landing site."
"Rubble-filled depressions appear in sharp relief in this image from the Philae lander, taken as it descended. One, just to the right of centre in the lower part of the image, is almost circular. Pits like this may be the source of the comet’s gas vents, which become progressively more active as it approaches the sun."
- from the Guardian live feed here: Rosetta mission: Esa lands spacecraft on comet – live coverage
Latest news: Nobody can say for sure yet, but Philae may have bounced (for 2 hours between the bounces) :).
If so, its legs would have damped its velocity the first time - so - if this is the correct interpretation of the telemetry - it took off again slowly in the low gravity - and then about 2 hours later, landed again - so may have landed not once, but twice :).
And seems it was changing orientation during the bounce - flywheel was switched off after landing the first time so no longer stabilised by it. But not tumbling enough to be a problem for the second landing.
And first landing was close to the centre of the landing ellipse.
Will be out of contact with the lander now for several hours until tomorrow morning (expected). Which will give them time to analyse the telemetry also and find out more about what happened.
Update tomorrow at 1400 central European time ( 1 pm GMT)
rendezvous with a comet
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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