(과학) 로세타 위성에 탑재된 혜성 착류선 필래 이제 안정 찾음

출처: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30034060

13 November 2014 Last updated at 10:03

Rosetta: Comet lander Philae now stable - scientists 로세타 위성에 탑재된 혜성 착륙기 필래 이제 안정 찾음

By Jonathan AmosScience correspondent, BBC News

A brand new image shows the view from the Philae lander of the surface of the comet 이 사진은 필래가 찍은 혜성의 표면을 보여준다

The robot probe Philae that made a historic comet landing is now stable after initially failing to attach to the surface, and is sending pictures. 인류 최초로 혜성 착륙에 성공한 로봇 탐색기 필래는 처음에 표면에 착륙하는데 실패하였으나 이제 안정을 찾았고, 찍은 사진들을 전송하고 있다.

Efforts are now being made to locate the precise position of the European Space Agency probe on the surface. 유럽우주연구소의 탐사선이 혜성 어느 곳에 있는지 상세한 위치를 찾아내려고 노력하고 있다.

Engineers say it may have bounced hundreds of metres back off the comet after first contact, before finally settling down. 엔지니어들은 마침내 안착하기까지 표면과의 첫 접촉이후 혜성 표면에서 수백 미터를 튀었다고 말한다.

It is hoped Philae can gain insights into the origins of our Solar System. 필래가 태양계의 기원에 대한 통찰을 줄 것으로 기대된다.

The first pictures indicate that the lander is sitting at an angle - perhaps on a slope, or maybe even on its side. But the team is continuing to receive "great data" from Philae. 최초의 사진을 보면 착륙기가 비스듬히(어쩌면 경사를 이루어) 혹은 기울어진 채 앉아 있다. 그러나 연구팀은 계속해서 필래로부터 "엄청난 데이타"를 전송 받고 있다. 

Esa's Rosetta satellite carried Philae on a 6.4 billion-km (4bn-mile) journey to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. 유럽우주연구소의 로세타 위성은 지구에서 64억 키로 떨어진 혜성 67P까지 필래를 실어날랐다.

Signals from the landing are still being analysed - but this is the team's current best guess at how events unfolded 착륙시 보내온 시그널들을 아직 분석하고 있다. 그러나 이것은 연구팀이 착륙시 발생했던 문제들을 현재 가장 잘 알 수 있는 방법이다.

The robot probe, the size of a washing machine, was dropped from the satellite on Wednesday and spent seven hours travelling down to the icy body. 세탁기 크기의 로봇 탐색기는 지난 수요일 위성 로세타에서 떨어져나와 얼음바닥 표면까지 내려오는데 7시간 걸렸다.

News of the "first" landing was confirmed at about 16:05 GMT. "인류최초" 착륙소식이 전파된 것은 GMT 16시 5분(한국시간 새벽 1시 5분)이었다.

Ebullient mood 하늘을 나는(사기충천한) 분위기

Controllers re-established radio communication with the probe on cue on Thursday after a scheduled break, and began pulling of the new pictures.

These show the feet of the lander and the wider cometscape. one of the three feet is not in contact with the ground.

Philae is stable now, but there is still concern about the longer-term situation because the probe is not properly anchored - the harpoons that should have hooked it into the surface did not fire on contact. Neither did its feet screws get any purchase.

Lander project manager Stephan Ulamec told the BBC that he was very wary of now commanding the harpoons to fire, as this could throw Philae back off into space.

He also has worries about drilling into the comet to get samples for analysis because this too could affect the overall stability of the lander.

"We are still not anchored," he said. "We are sitting with the weight of the lander somehow on the comet. We are pretty sure where we landed the first time, and then we made quite a leap. Some people say it is in the order of 1 km high.

"And then we had another small leap, and now we are sitting there, and transmitting, and everything else is something we have to start understanding and keep interpreting."

David Shukman, BBC science editor

Touching down on a comet is mind-blowing in itself, but try picturing how the tiny Philae lander has then bounced around its new home.

From what we know, the lander rose hundreds of metres above the surface at one stage and remained in flight for nearly two hours. one might say it was airborne, except that the comet has no air.

In any event, it may have risen vertically or drifted sideways - we should hear later. Either way, while Philae was off the surface, the comet will have rotated beneath it. Each rotation takes about 12 hours which means the lander may effectively travelled across one-sixth of the comet's surface.

By the time it came down again, the original landing zone - chosen for its relative safety and ideal amount of sunshine - was left far behind. The lander is now in different, undetermined area that may prove far more hazardous.

The first picture is confusing, but suggests Philae is sitting at an angle. Everyone here is hungry for more news.

One of the cameras on Philae sent this image of the comet during the descent

Another issue being assessed is the amount of sunlight available to Philae.

The probe left Rosetta with 60-plus hours of battery life, and will need at some point to charge up with its solar panels.

But early reports indicate that in its present position, the robot is receiving only one-and-a-half hours of sunlight during every 12-hour rotation of the comet.

This will not be enough to sustain operations.

As a consequence, controllers here are discussing using one of Philae's deployable instruments to try to launch the probe upwards and away to a better location. But this would be a last-resort option.

The Royal Mail is commemorating the landing with a special postmark, which will be applied to all mail delivered across the UK from Friday to Saturday

First, the team really needs to understand where Philae is on the surface and what lies around it.

Holger Sierks, the principal investigator of the science cameras on Philae's mothership, Rosetta, which is circling the comet overhead, said his team was now trying to take pictures of the robot on the surface.

These pictures will show very little detail because Rosetta is many tens of kilometres away, but they will help pinpoint the place the little probe came to rest after its bouncing.

Even if Philae does not live beyond its initial battery life, scientists will be delighted with the data they have already got.

This information will transform what we know about these objects, and enable researchers to test several hypotheses about the formation of the Solar System and the origins of life.

One theory holds that comets were responsible for delivering water to the planets. Another idea is that they could have "seeded" the Earth with the chemistry needed to help kick-start biology.

Mission facts: 임수수행

Philae lander 필래 착륙기

• Travelled 6.4 billion km (four billion miles) to reach the comet 혜성 67P까지 도달하는데64억 키로 여행
• Journey took 10 years 여정은 10년 전에 시작됨
• Planning for the journey began 25 years ago 이 계획은 25년 전 시작됨

Comet 67P 혜성 67P

• More than four billion years old 나이는 40억 년 이상
• Mass of 10 billion tonnes 무게가 100억톤 나가는 덩어리
• Hurtling through space at 18km/s (40,000mph) 초속 18키로로 우주를 비행(날아다님)
• Shaped like a rubber duck 모양새는 고무 오리처럼 생김

Can you land on a comet?

'More black swan than yellow duck'

Brief encounters with comets

A quick look at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko - and what it could teach us