Paolo Ferri, ESA’s Head of Mission Operations, expresses relief at the apparently successful release of Philae from the Rosetta mothership but the potential loss of a crucial touchdown system has caused increased anxiety about the landing.
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Comet Hitchhiker would take tour of small solar-system bodies
A concept called Comet Hitchhiker, developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, puts forth a new way to get into orbit and land on comets and asteroids, using the kinetic energy — the energy of motion — of these small bodies. Masahiro Ono, the principal investigator based at JPL, had Douglas Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” in mind when dreaming up the idea.
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A ‘tail’ of cometary twins buzzing Earth on 21-22 March
Comet 252P/LINEAR will zip past Earth on Monday, 21 March at a range of about 3.3 million miles. The following day, comet P/2016 BA14 will safely fly by our planet at a distance of about 2.2 million miles, or nine times the distance to the Moon. This will be the second closest flyby of a comet in recorded history next to comet D/1770 L1 (Lexell) in 1770.