The European Space Agency achieved the first touchdown on a comet nucleus with the Rosetta mission. The mission hopes to analyze the comet and research the origins of the solar system. Scientists also hope the mission will increase enthusiasm for space exploration in the United States.
The main spacecraft launched ten years ago by the space agency orbited and took measurements of the 67P comet. The lander, Philae, launched from the spacecraft on the morning of November 12th to collect more advanced data about the comet.Problems with the landing required Philae to shut down just two days after it landed. Upon landing, the harpoon meant to keep Philae in place did not fire, and images of the comet suggest Philae took three attempts to land, possibly bouncing off of the comet before coming to rest. Because of its rough landing Philae powered off before it could take any major measurements. The European Space Agency still hoped to get data from Philae if the comet turns and exposes Philae to the sun where it could recharge its battery with solar panels.
According to the European Space Agency, comets are targeted for space exploration because they have changed very little since the formation of our solar system. “By studying the nature of the comet’s dust and gas, Rosetta will help scientists learn more about the role of comets in the evolution of the Solar System,” said Aileen O’Donoghue, a physics professor at St Lawrence University. Some of the oldest fossils on earth are as old as the oldest rocks. It is likely that organic molecules could have been introduced to earth through early bombardment by a comet. “We want to know what organic molecules are on comets, the basis for the origin of life story,” said O’Donoghue.
Even without being able to collect data, the scientific community is still very excited about the mission. “We threw a peanut at a dirt cloud over 300 million miles away moving 38 times the speed of a bullet, and we landed on it,” remarked O’Donoghue. Upon landing, scientific social media sites erupted in headlines like Wired Magazine’s “Holy S***t We landed a Spacecraft on a Comet”. Google even changed its logo to an image of Philae floating among the stars.
O’Donoghue also mentioned that exploration for the sake of exploration should not be put down. “It is the human spirit, even when we are dirt poor we still have to have book, an education, the mind wants to go out and know,” said O’Donoghue. Exploration like this will hopefully lead to answers to some of the “plaguing questions” of our times, like are we alone in the universe and how did life begin.
Enthusiasm for the Rosetta mission in the Unites States did not reach the height many thought it would. O’Donoghue recounted her surprise that most of her introduction to physics lab was not aware of the accomplishment. Anna Padovani, a junior chemistry major, said she learned about the mission from entertainment based science pages on social media sites, and Google’s logo. She thought that most of the science majors on campus she talked to had some knowledge about the mission.
Outside the discipline, enthusiasm for space exploration is declining. In a recent Pew Research survey, only two in ten Americans wanted to increase the amount the U.S. is spending on space exploration. This is in the face of significant budget cuts to space exploration in the past decades. NASA currently accounts for only 0.5% of the federal budget. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson testified in front of the U.S. senate in 2012 explaining that for any advances in space exploration, NASA’s budget would have to be doubled. In fact the department in charge of the Rosetta mission has seen their budget cut by half a billion since the launch.
These budget cuts reflects the drop in enthusiasm for the space program since the moon landing era. “For lots of people it’s just too far away, it’s just another video game,” said O’Donoghue. The U.S. started out as a leader of the world’s space exploration program, but now does not have adequate funds to compete while other countries explore. “We should have a base on the moon, it’s just ridiculous,” remarked O’Donoghue, who believes a Chinese moon base is not far away.
Even efforts to make St. Lawrence’s campus more space exploration friendly have been difficult. O’Donoghue said she used to be able to observe the night skies from the top of Bewkes Hall, but now because of installment of the ‘acorn lights’ around campus, the light pollution is too much. Other campus like Clarkson have full cutoff LED lights, which direct light only to the ground and pathways, and not up into the sky.
St Lawrence installed these lights near the reconstructed quad, which O’Donoghue was very excited about. Padovani agrees that astronomy clubs on campus would be a great idea, and had noticed the new lights but didn’t like them because they sometimes stay off even as campus dims. O’Donoghue hopes that with better lighting, people will be more interested in seeing the stars and have a greater enthusiasm and drive for exploring them.