Elisabeth Snipes's List: Astronomy

• NASA Television and the agency’s website will provide live coverage from 9-11:30 a.m. EST
• scheduled to touch down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at 10:35 a.m. 

• chances of success at about 70%
• harpoons
• high-resolution image of the landing site just before it sets down
•  

   

  Even the harpoons have another use.

   

  "This is very cool," said O'Rourke. "Accelerometers in the harpoons can measure the deceleration so you get a very good idea of the 'hardness' of the surface. It's an amazing what Philae can do," he said.

   

  Mission controllers will face a nail-biting wait for first news from the spacecraft.

   

  At landing, O'Rourke says the comet will be more than 500 million kilometers (310 million miles) from Earth so a signal from the probe will take just short of half an hour to reach us -- and more than an hour for the first pictures.

   

  Philae carries nine instruments that ESA
• Philae has an initial 65 hours of battery life but scientists hope they will be able to recharge and continue working for three months.
• already giving off a dust jet
• ugust 2015
• closest

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