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Rossetta to land on comet... good or bad ???

spaceboy

By spaceboy
in The Astro Lounge

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spaceboy

spaceboy

Posted
Posted

http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/

Needless to say this isn't new news to most in the astronomy community but I can't help but think it is one of those playing "GOD" moments when we are interfering with things that arguably were supposed to be beyond our reach.

I believe that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Who is saying that landing on this comet isn't going to in the vacuum of space have some influence on the comet destined path through time and space causing ripples along the way. 

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jambouk

jambouk

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We are inquisitive, i suspect some have selfish motives, but on the whole i think it is fascinating to try and work out its composition, age, and understand what happens when it passes close to the sun.

I suspect the tremendous damage we have done on planet earth is far more significant, as well as polluting space with hundreds of tons of orbiting junk.

James

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SlyReaper

SlyReaper

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http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/

Needless to say this isn't new news to most in the astronomy community but I can't help but think it is one of those playing "GOD" moments when we are interfering with things that arguably were supposed to be beyond our reach.

I believe that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Who is saying that landing on this comet isn't going to in the vacuum of space have some influence on the comet destined path through time and space causing ripples along the way. 

"Supposed to be beyond our reach"?  Supposed by whom?  The Flying Spaghetti Monster?  I think the FSM is cool with us dropping a robot on a comet.

If we were worried about every small action having unforeseen consequences later on, we'd never get out of bed in the mornings.

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Mukv

Mukv

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Posted

on the other hand if you close your eyes will it no longer exist and no longer be an issue?

Do you have an interest in space and what is out there? We are all god and have an influence on things beyond our reach it's called the internet, you influenced me to type a reply.

you could always crawl under a rock and hide but then you would never find out about these events and never have to worry about playing god...

It may be a good thing if you worry about this outcome to step away from the modern world.

Sorry for this rant

Andy

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ronin

ronin

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The gravity of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is such that as it trundles around it will attract other bits of rock that will hit it harder then our Rosetta lander does. So in effect we are just another bit that bumps into it and so have negligible individual effect.

Put Rosetta Mission into Google and most say Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, one says Comet 46 P/Wirtanen ? :confused: :confused: :confused:

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Ruud

Ruud

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Suppose the lander bounces off, and half an orbit later bumps into Rosetta and gets stuck, rendering both useless.

That would be a case of cosmic irony.

I say the Rosetta mission is right where it's supposed to be. Nobody played god. We played people, and built a rocket.

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John

John

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I think it's very exciting. I hope the landing / docking is a success but I'm sure we will learn lots whatever the outcome. The mission has already delivered the most stunning images of a comets nucleus that I've ever seen and tons of scientific data too. I thought Giotto's flyby of Comet Halley was pretty impressive back in 1986 but this is in a different league :smiley: 

What was beyond our reach in the past is being achieved now, what is beyond our reach today could very well achievable in the near future and I don't see any reason not to keep reaching :smiley:

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jamespels

jamespels

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One, Rosetta is not landing on 67P - Philae is!

Two, whatever changes will happen to 67P's orbit have already been made. Short of a few grams of propellant to send Philae on its way, Philae will be coasting down under 67P's gravity so the overall orbit of the 67P / Rosetta / Philae system will not be affected one jot by this landing attempt.

Three, as above, the Rosetta / Philae mass is so small compared to 67P's that any overall affect will be unmeasurable.

Four, humanity needs to get of this rock at some point and we are never going to get anywhere with that attitude!

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riklaunim

riklaunim

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Needless to say this isn't new news to most in the astronomy community but I can't help but think it is one of those playing "GOD" moments when we are interfering with things that arguably were supposed to be beyond our reach.

I believe that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Who is saying that landing on this comet isn't going to in the vacuum of space have some influence on the comet destined path through time and space causing ripples along the way.

And there will be more according to Kardashev scale. At first it will be colonies on Mars, some Solar System moons, and them we will go to other solar systems to start colonies them or interact with other advanced civilizations. Bible doesn't say anything about meeting Spock so is it forbidden?

Depending on age of our history what was "playing God" and what not did change a lot. At first everything was explained in spiritual way, but science came along (which didn't make some people to happy) and started to give answers based on evidence and fact removing the need for supernatural puppeteer ("a magician" by current pope) that decides what, who and when must do and what not. At the moment we can describe space and the universe by the language of science. There will be no magic happening making 2 + 2 = 22 just because we do what we can and want to do.

Around year 1000 there was a belief among Christians that the world will end at 1000 year so the whole "economy", everything collapsed... and a passing comet make them freak out ;) Now we probe it, not fear it (we do have Bruce Willis at hand also so comets may not come to close or they will die hard).

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spaceboy

spaceboy

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Please can everyone respect the no-religion rule in the CoC. I believe the OP using quotes was indicating he was not using the phrase 'playing god' literally. Don't spoil an interesting discussion.

Thanks Shane

Sorry guys didn't mean for it to get distracted from the science side of things. If there was another word I could have used I would have done hence the "GOD".

Don't get me wrong guys and girls I'm all up for the whole future exploration thing I just feel that we are human and we have been known to make some rather large poor decisions in the past. The most obvious one for me is the H bomb. Yes there were the reasons for exploring this in the day but sadly we now all live under the fear of nuclear war because of it. Again arguably this threat is no longer real but it seems man will always have their own opinions and often defend them.

I know to learn we need to explore but I cannot help the thought that sometimes we are so eager to get the answers that we don't always stop to think of the possible consequences. As most of you agree that there may be no significant alteration to the path of the comet and a lot of knowledge could be gained from the event. There is also the possibility no matter how small that it may well have some influence hence the title of the thread.... Good or Bad.

If it was supposed to be beyond our reach, how could we reach it?  Who says anything is beyond our reach, and why didn't they try harder to make it so?  Lack of imagination, that's all I can think of.

I will also point out that I said arguably were supposed to be beyond our reach. I say this because man couldn't make this journey or at least we wouldn't get very far in to it and even if they did I guess they would be to pleased with idea of the end goal. Yes we have the ability to reach out in to space but only remotely at these distances.

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symesie04

symesie04

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Yes we do live with the threat of nuclear war but its easy to always look at the negative side and forget the positive. In my mind and i think many will agree that development has also averted conflict simply by possesion. O,k nuclear weapons havent enliminated war, fra from it but there can be little doubt that a conflict between west and east would have happened at some point if it wasnt for nuclear weapons. Its also likely that such a conflict would of proved just as costly as the great wars.

It might be remotely but it is still our reacxh, our footprint. I dont get the "playing god" argument. After all evolution has given us the intelligence to extend our reach generation by generation. Regardless of anyones beliefs if we have been given the ability to reach out then why shouldn't we?

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astro mick

astro mick

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Without being political.i believe the H-Bomb,horric as it is,has kept World Peace since WW11,and has allowed my generation and I believe future generations to live in peace.

I count myself very lucky to have being born post WW11.

Mick.

P.S. Lets go land on the comet.(Cant wait).

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spaceboy

spaceboy

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Sorry guys looks like I've done it again. The H bomb was an example of how we can get things wrong and how we still live in the shadow of that. It's not my intention to go in to religious or political debate.

Playing god was maybe the wrong choice of wording :rolleyes: but it was only loosely intended to suggest our influence on things that again "arguably" would be in reality beyond our reach if it was not for our development in technology. We can clone animals, should we do it because we can and so forth.....

I'm an astronomer so yes I'm thrilled that we have landed man on the moon, landed rovers on Mars and sent probes out in to deep space but I'm not knocking that. I merely question if it is good or bad to land on a comet as there is a minute possibility we could change the fate of that comets path. Not saying it is going to come crashing in to earth or cause the universe to stop expanding! 

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