Collaborate Disseminate
By studying the logs of computer malfunctions caused by high-energy particles striking their circuitry, ESA scientists have used “housekeeping” data from the Rosetta and Mars Express deep-space probes to shed new light on cosmic rays in the solar syste… Continue reading ESA uses spacecraft “housekeeping” data to measure cosmic rays
Researchers have detected phosphorus on a comet – thereby completing the grocery list of elements that are essential for life. The discovery was made in data from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by the Rosetta probe a few years ago, strengthening the i… Continue reading Missing ingredient for life finally found on a comet
Scientists have discovered the second site at which ESA’s ill-fated Philae lander touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and in so doing revealed that the ancient ice hidden under the surface of the comet is softer than the froth on a cappucc… Continue reading Philae’s second touchdown gouged out a skull-like face on comet 67P
Most readers will be aware of the various distributed computing projects that provide supercomputer-level resources to researchers by farming out the computing tasks across a multitude of distributed CPUs and GPUs. The best known of these are probably Folding@Home and Rosetta, which have both this year been performing sterling service …read more
Apple computers will be moving away from Intel chips to its own ARM-based design. An interesting thing about Apple as a company is that it has never felt the need to tie itself to a particular system architecture or ISA. Whereas a company like Microsoft mostly tied its fortunes to …read more
Images sent back by ESA’s Rosetta comet probe show that it wasn’t only thing orbiting comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G). A comparison of images taken four years ago when the comet was closest to the Sun shows a piece of debris about 4… Continue reading Rosetta images reveal comet 67P/C-G had a tiny, temporary moon
Why that’s actually not good news for astrobiologists looking for extraterrestrial life. Continue reading Compound Associated With Life Found in Two Very Different Locations in Space
The birth of a new field of astronomy, the death of a lonely comet orbiter, and everything in between. Continue reading From Planet Nine to Proxima b, 2016 Was a Wild Year for Space
Last week, the Rosetta spacecraft crashed into comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko after orbiting it since 2014. It was supposed to do that: the mission was at an end, and the mission designers wanted to end it by getting a close look at the surface of the comet. But this raises an interesting problem: how do you get a device that is designed to never stop to actually stop?
A spacecraft like Rosetta is built from the ground up to keep going, to reboot and go into a backup mode, phone home and wait for instructions if it encounters a problem. This is …read more
Philae wins longest game of hide and seek. Continue reading Philae Found! Comet Chaser Rosetta Spots Lander Weeks Before Its Death
