The first panoramic pictures from its CIVA (Comet Nucleus Infrared and Visible Analyser) camera show a surface covered in dust and debris, with rock-like materials in a range of sizes. “It’s certainly rougher than what we thought,” says Stephan Ulamec, Philae project manager at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) near Cologne. Data from another instrument, MUPUS (Multi-purpose Sensors for Surface and Sub-Surface Science), which includes a Coke-can-sized hammer mechanism atop a 40-centimetre-long rod to probe the comet’s surface, revealed a surprise: the comet seems to have hard ice underneath a 10–20-centimetre layer of dust, into which the hammer could not probe. “We were expecting a softer layer, with a consistency like compact snow, or maybe chalk,” says the DLR’s Tilman Spohn, principal investigator for MUPUS.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 17:26:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015