
Where is Rosetta? Interactive model of the Solar System - ColinWright
https://util1.estec.esa.int/rosetta/where_is_rosetta/
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ColinWright
It's over 800 million km away, it's just over 8 million km from the comet and
closing. I counted four gravitational assists to get it there.

Close approach in May, landing in August.

Started nearly 10 years ago.

Amazing.

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dj-wonk
Yes! I noticed (visually) how close Rosetta came to Earth a few times. I read
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_assist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_assist)
but didn't get a sense for how close a spacecraft may get to a planet (other
than not so close as to interact with the atmosphere).

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dj-wonk
The gravity assists (and more) are detailed here:
[http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Rose...](http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Rosetta_factsheet)

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DanAndersen
As someone who has enough trouble setting up proper orbits in Kerbal Space
Program, it's astounding to me the whole process of multiple gravity assists
to get the probe to the right place at the right time at the right velocity.

Also, a little disappointed (though understanding) that the JS is obfuscated
([https://util1.estec.esa.int/rosetta/where_is_rosetta/js/tecf...](https://util1.estec.esa.int/rosetta/where_is_rosetta/js/tecfield-
simulator.js)). I was hoping to be able to pull it apart and see how it's
visualizing the orbits in three.js.

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Snail_Commando
Check this out: [http://www.asterank.com/3d](http://www.asterank.com/3d)

I'm pretty sure the creator of asterank is on HN.

For what it's worth, I think the OP JS is obfuscated/minified for load times;
not for self-interested reasons.

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jk4930
He is:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=typpo](https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=typpo)

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gus_massa
I like the idea, but it’s not a very clear presentation. It starts at the
launching time, press “Where is Rosetta today?” to advance to the actual
position and see the orbit. I couldn’t zoom or move sideward.

On the other hand, the trajectory is more complicated than I thought. Almost
incredible.

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ColinWright
You can grab the image and rotate it around - viewing side on is interesting.
You can click "Play" and watch it run forward from launch to landing.

Scroll wheel will zoom, or hold down "s" and drag. Right-drag will pan.

What more would you like?

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gus_massa
I didn’t see the “help” button. I’m using a slow netbook. There is no
mousewheel and the keys+moupad are very difficult to use, mostly because the
micro is at 100% and I have to wait like a seconds until the image moves.

I tested it now in my desktop pc. It works much better, and I can use a real
mouse. But the micro is at 70%. You can try to look how this page looks when
you set the affinity of the browser to only one or two cores.

