The Philae probe of Rosetta will land at the designated place J

2014/09/15 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astrofisika
• Astronautika

The ESA has announced that they have already chosen the place where the Philae probe of the ship Rosetta will be “knitted”. The place will be point J, a concrete field located on the “head” of the comet.

The Rosetta probes, from 6 to 24 August, as they approach the comet, have been based on the images received to choose the place. Among five candidates, point J has been unanimously chosen as the safest. The substitute, point C, has been chosen.

Philae weighs one hundred kilos and those of the ESA recognize that putting it on the cover of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimen is “really difficult”. The operation is scheduled for November 11 and if everything goes well, it will allow to obtain information without pairs, since for the first time the data of a comet from the surface will be collected. Among other things, they expect to know the origin, structure and evolution of the comet, and anticipate that the J point analysis can provide valuable information about the materials and the original core.