Doctor Who landed on a comment in the 1960’s
We just landed a spacecraft on a comet for the first time. Here’s why it matters.
Updated by Joseph Stromberg on November 12, 2014, 11:04 a.m. ET @josephstromberg joseph@vox.com
The 220-pound, box-shaped lander was carried to the comet, called 67P/C-G, by a larger probe named Rosetta, launched and operated by the European Space Agency. In August, Rosetta became the first spacecraft to ever be put into orbit around a comet, and at 3:35 am EST on Wednesday morning, it released Philae.
After a seven hour journey down from Rosetta, the lander successfully made contact with the comet, sinking down an estimated four centimeters into its dusty surface. However, the lander’s harpoons did not correctly fire, and it’s possible that Philae may have slowly bounced off the comet, then landed again. Scientists still aren’t sure exactly what happened, but they believe the lander isn’t firmly anchored to the comet.
Regardless, it does seem to be stable and upright at the moment, and has already begun transmittingscientific data, as well as photos of the descent:
It is an amazing success, just awesome.
But, I did observe in the videos of the mission control that 99% of the scientists on hand were white men. Maybe one or two women. No one of color.
When are all the STEM initiatives going to start expanding to a greater brainpower pool?
Many women who have talent and educational credentials in STEM disciplines are opting not to pursue careers in hard science despite heavy recruitment. There may have been barriers in the past, but at this point women are self-selecting and many simply don;t have the passion for these careers even if they have the capabilities. So spending money to channel women into these careers is no likely to bear much fruit.
What difference does color make get over your own bias.
Don’t accuse someone of racial bias when a factual observation is being made. That is the most immature trick in the book. And by the way, why did you just mention color and not gender? Biased???