Spacecraft on Comet Drills for Data as Its Power Fades

Spacecraft on Comet Drills for Data as Its Power Fades

This article was about the European lander Philae and scientists desperate attempts to save the battery on the lander. Scientists were forced to reposition the lander following its landing in a position that scientists think only allowed sun to reach one of Philae’s solar panels. The lander was successfully rotated and drilling was able to begin. The lander drilled 10 inches into the surface of the comet but scientists fear that the lander may not have had the power needed to analyze and deliver any information on it. Despite the lander losing power the mothership Rosetta will continue to observe and collect data on the comet for the next few months. In the end scientists hope the $1.6 billion project will help them understand more about the origins of the universe and life on earth.

This accomplishment of landing a probe on a comet has unlocked endless possibilities. The probe could return samples with a cure for cancer in some unknown new element or it could bring us a new lightweight metal ore that can be used for space travel. The comet could hold other secrets as well as are we the only living life forms in the universe or did we originally come from another planet and we were brought here for some unknown reason. The comet may be a key into our past and our future if we look in the right places.

After reading the article i felt that the author presented the information very well and having chunks of information spread into different paragraphs. I also liked that the author included exact numbers instead of estimating or rounding up to the closest thing like going from “signals taking more than 28 minutes to travel between Earth and Rosetta” to signals take about half an hour to reach Rosetta from earth. Despite this the author did not include any background information on the topic. I was forced to do my own research to understand what probe he was talking about and it would have greatly improved the article if it had had some background information.