Approx one hour from comet landing (11 AM EST) - live link here. Live Science!

[NRaleighLiberal]

Landing on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

http://rosetta.esa.int/

They are broadcasting live, sharing Tweets - this is cool stuff!

Some pics of the comet (taken at various points in the last months)

[MADem]

1. For those of us who are clueless, could you give us some background?

I'm seeing a press conference, but not sure what they are talking about--are they going to land something on a comet?????

[ChisolmTrailDem]

2. Here you go...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025804916

[MADem]

5. Perfect--sort of a comet landings for dummies--which I was when it came to this.

How did I miss this big news?

You'd think the US media would give thirty seconds to this project every so often, seeing as a few of our tax dollars was thrown at it. Who cares if we aren't the major players--this is a neat thing, I hope it succeeds!

[ChisolmTrailDem]

8. One of the neatest space missions I've witnessed since sitting on my dad's lap in 1969 to watch

Neil Armstrong and Company land on the moon!!!

I LOVE this stuff, MADem.

U.S. media sucking hard, as usual.

We're moments away now from space exploration history... landing on a comet! Imagine that!

[MADem]

9. Agree with you a thousand percent--I should think the networks would break in...but no!

They're all cookin' and gossipin'--like always.

[NRaleighLiberal]

16. not enough fear for the eyeballs/ad money.

[kentauros]

30. Maybe Al Jazeera America will.

They're my go-to news source now, even over MSNBC

From their page: Rosetta space probe poised for comet landing

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. the link has tons of info - just below the picture is all of the background, etc

got to dash out the door right now. happy reading!

(Yes, they are about to land a spacecraft on a comet!)

[MADem]

4. Well, that deserves a K and R!!!!!!!! nt

[NYC_SKP]

6. Landing a spacecraft on a comet, baby! Now I would love to have been on that team!

What a challenge, far different from landing on the moon.

Thanks for posting!

[G_j]

7. K&R

[onehandle]

10. First we invade a comet. Then we invade another. And another...

Didn't we learn anything from the invasion of Iraq?

How long before a comet hits us here?

[NRaleighLiberal]

11. I know. but we need to get the comet there so it doesn't get us here!

[packman]

13. Must have oil or diamonds on it

Seriously, what comes to mind is pin-point tracking and landing for a asteroid that may endanger the earth. I can see it as a weapon delivery system for destroying a potential life ending encounter.

[kentauros]

32. It's so we can bomb it.

Like we bombed the Moon

[pscot]

42. I don't think Europeans are motivated

by the same things we are.

[G_j]

12. kick

[gvstn]

14. Thank you for the timely reminder, and kick.

[still_one]

15. For those that have DTV it is also on NASA TV, 346

[NRaleighLiberal]

17. thanks!

[ChisolmTrailDem]

18. Live DU Updates Here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025804916

[a kennedy]

19. WHY ISN'T THIS ON TV???

and thanks for posting this site to watch on my computer.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

21. Because our media sucks! nt

[a kennedy]

27. Got that right......just threw that stupid question out there.

[NRaleighLiberal]

29. because it isn't a fad diet, a Ronko product or faux outage of some dysfunction!

[Hissyspit]

34. Because the Europeans are doing it, not Americans.

Only Americans matter.

[tridim]

39. There is a live special tonight on Science Channel.

One of the few channels that doesn't suck.

[muriel_volestrangler]

41. It was on the BBC (BBC World anyway)

They've been live for half an hour at least, by now.

[Crabby Appleton]

44. CNN covering it

the whole block from 11:30 to 12:00 was devoted to the landing.

[NRaleighLiberal]

20. I would love to be one of those people looking at screens, assessing live data,

sweating bullets. Exploration, the unknown, progress - so stimulating (yes, I am a nerd!). Kind of what I do in my annual gardens, walking around, writing stuff down, talking to myself or my plants, looking for breakthroughs and depressed about the occasional misfires!

[ChisolmTrailDem]

22. Me too, NRaleighLiberal... Have you seen my

post here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025804916

[uppityperson]

24. Thanks for the live updates, very exciting

[NRaleighLiberal]

25. yessiree - enjoying it!

Maybe it's my age - 58, remember watching the moon landing with my parents - or my overall passion for science. But when politics gets rough and dirty and depressing, I tend to science, nature, music, the arts for solace.

I still remember in junior high reading every astronomy book our little library had - and then taking my game to the city library to continue. Nerd indeed!

[Orrex]

23. I'm even more excited about this than that time we bombed the moon.

K/R!

[NRaleighLiberal]

26. I have to head off for lunch - so no matter what happens, I can't update my OP for a few hours.

Hoping for the best - and some fascinating findings to ponder!

[Fred Sanders]

28. A Milestone being covered on level with football players and wives in the American media.....

[Hissyspit]

31. Wow, comets are really dog chew toys in space.

[NRaleighLiberal]

33. but what flavor are they? liver? cheese? bacon, perhaps!

[Hissyspit]

35. Not tomato.

[NRaleighLiberal]

37. would never survive in those conditions

[muriel_volestrangler]

36. Thruster Glitch Adds Drama as Philae Lander Heads for Comet

A thruster system problem heightened the drama surrounding an historic attempt to examine the surface of a comet Wednesday — the high point of a $1.3 billion, 10-year mission.
...
At the end of its seven-hour trip, a cold-gas thruster system is supposed to be fired to hold the lander steady and keep it from bouncing off the surface while harpoons are shot into the comet to secure it in place. But mission managers at the European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany, said readings from the lander suggested that the system was not properly activated.

"The cold-gas thruster on top of the lander does not appear to be working, so we will have to rely fully on the harpoons at touchdown," Stephan Ulamec, Philae lander manager at the DLR German Aerospace Center, reported in an ESA blog posting. "We'll need some luck not to land on a boulder or a steep slope."

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/thruster-glitch-adds-drama-philae-lander-heads-comet-n246671

[NRaleighLiberal]

38. harpoons! we need cap'n ahab!

arrrghhh!

[dumbcat]

40. Landed!

Success!

[adirondacker]

43. Excellent! adding an NPR link...

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/12/363492519/comet-landing-european-craft-due-to-make-contact-today

[Crabby Appleton]

45. The Science Channel will have a special report

this evening from 9:00 to 10:00.