Rosetta's last orbit.

[martin_h]

http://m.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/How_to_follow_Rosetta_s_grand_finale

[Steve Ward]

http://livestream.com/ESA/rosettagrandfinale

[The Admiral]

The end of an amazing project! I shall be watching out.

Ian

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I am wearing my Rosetta & Philae t-shirt to work today in honour of the event. 

Hope I can catch a bit of the action on the live stream

[bomberbaz]

just to confirm is this 11.20 bst?

[Jonk]

[John]

58 minutes ago, bomberbaz said:

just to confirm is this 11.20 bst?

Yes I think it is Steve. We are currently 1 hour ahead of UTC in the UK.

Some great photos still coming from Rosetta. The latest from just 5km or so above the surface.

[martin_h]

The main imaging camera takes around 3 images a minute, they think the last image could be as close as 15 mtrs!

 

[martin_h]

1 hour ago, bomberbaz said:

just to confirm is this 11.20 bst?

Rosetta is set to complete its historic mission in a controlled descent to the surface of its comet on 30 September, with the end of mission confirmation predicted to be within 20 minutes of 11:20 GMT (13:20 CEST)

[Jonk]

5km from the surface!

[Jonk]

2.5km and closing!

[martin_h]

2.2km

 

[Jonk]

2.2km

[Jonk]

By all accounts, Rosetta has already 'touched down', but with a 40 minute transport time for the signal, it'll be another 25+ minutes before confirmation i.e. loss of signal.

 

[Jonk]

1.5km!

[martin_h]

1.5km

[Jonk]

1km from the surface, showing a wall in shadow. The loss of signal is expected in around 7 minutes from now, the landing site is further 'north' of this image.

[Jonk]

The wait is nearly over!

[Jonk]

You can see the countdown timer top left (4 minutes), and the carrier signal in the top middle. This line will go flat, or to noise once the signal is lost (which has already happened don't forget!).

[Jonk]

Going....going...

[martin_h]

When the yellow signal curve goes flat line that's game over!

[Jonk]

Gone!

[martin_h]

That's how you do that then!!

 

[Jonk]

Congratulations - I've loved it.

[bomberbaz]

arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh missed it by a minute, ********