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NEWS STREAM

First Images From Philae Reach Earth

Aired November 13, 2014 - 8:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Now, still standing, the first ever probe to land on a comet is sending back new views of its surroundings.

Plus, the presidents of the United States and Myanmar meet, but will it help reignite democratic reforms?

And new hope in the fight against Ebola. Clinical trials of experimental treatments are set to begin in West Africa next month.

The European Space Agency says the Philae lander is stable where it should be on a comet more than 400 kilometers (sic) away from Earth.

Now Twitter has managed to bridge the distance, posting this robot lab photo that is so clear you could actually see the surface.

Now scientists are now studying this image very closely. It gives us the first clues about Philae's position and of course details about the

comet itself.

Now landing for the first time on a comet is truly history in the making. And as you heard just then even glitches -- I mean, the failure to

latch on properly to the rocky terrain, that is also offering the scientific community new insight, new knowledge as well.

Let's go straight to Fred Pleitgen. He's been following the story for us from the start of the Mothership's incredible journey. He joins us live

from Darmstadt, Germany.

And Fred, we're waiting for this press conference, what are they set to reveal?

FRED PLEIGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the things that we hoped that they're going t reveal and what we think that

they're going to reveal is the first panoramic image that's bee taken from the Philae lander.

We've already had that first image that was released and that of course is truly remarkable, because for the first time we were able to see

the surface of the comet exactly in the place that the Philae lander had landed.

Now the interesting thing, and I talked to one of the scientists earlier, they believe that it might be standing at an angle, because one of

the things that we see on that picture is that there doesn't seem to be much of any surface under the lander's foot. It's in the bottom left-hand

corner of that picture.

Now what we do know is that the landing was one that essentially was three landings, because what happened -- and I have my little model here of

the lander and of the comet, is that the lander apparently came down, it then bounced off the comet because a harpoon system that was supposed to

deploy didn't deploy, it came up again and the first bounce that it took lasted for almost two hours. It then came back down to the comet. All of

this of course moving very, very slowly, because there's almost no gravity around the comet.

It then came back in, bounced again for about six minutes and then came to a rest and then obviously started taking that picture that we saw

there, which is actually two images put together from two different cameras.

So, what we're expecting right now -- and they're saying that the stream of data is coming in -- the lander is working perfectly find -- is

that first panoramic image which is quite difficult to get, because as we know the comet is about 510 million kilometers away from us, so obviously a

data link from a comet belt outside of Pluto is not going to be a very strong one. So we're waiting for those images to come in. They are here.

They have been processed. We do believe that we are going to see them at this press conference that is set to begin in the very room that I'm in

right now at any minute, Kristie.

LU STOUT: for those two bounces that you mentioned just then, I mean, especially the first one which lasted so many hours. It must have been

such a nailbiting moment for the scientists who are gathered there for this. Now the harpoons that are supposed to anchor the probe failed, hence

the bounces, but still it remains on the comet. I mean, just how stable is the Philae? And will it be able to stay in place for the duration of the

mission?

PLEITGEN: There were so many unknowns in all of this, and so many things that could have gone wrong that it is quite remarkable that it is in

any way shape or form standing on the planet. Because the harpoons are not the only thing that failed, Kristie.

What happened was it had the harpoons that didn't deploy. It had a screw system also on the bottom of the little feet of the lander that

apparently didn't deploy far enough for it to actually get anchored into the comet surface.

Then, there's a booster on top of the lander that was supposed to ignite and press the lander against the comet surface. That also didn't

work as well. However, the lander is still standing on the comet.

Now one of the other big unknowns, one of the big factors that the didn't know either, is what the comet's surface would be like. Would it be

very soft and powdery? Would the lander perhaps sink in and perhaps sink into a point where it wouldn't be able to send signals back to the Rosetta

probe that's going around the comet? That of course would have been a disaster for the mission as well.

What I'm getting from the scientists here is they're telling me that the ground that the lander is standing on right now appears to be fairly

solid, that's what their sensors are telling them. That photo seems to indicate that it might be quite rocky, however I've also spoken to some who

would indicate that it might be a sort of mix of ice and frozen dust. they simply don't know at this point.

But what we do know is that there are already being samples taken of the gases around the lander. They say that most of the equipment of the

lander is working at this point in time. And they appear -- they say they're going to get data back from it all the time now, Kristie.

LU STOUT: It's good to hear that the instruments on board are intact so we can get some more science and learn more about what's happening on

that comet and what it's built of.

Give us the wider picture here? Why is the probe there? Why did it go to and explore a comet?

PLEITGEN: Oh, well, I mean the comets are remnants from the earliest stages of our solar system. So obviously anything on the comet, the makeup

of the comet, what's on the comet could tell us a lot about the earliest stages, about 4.6 billion years ago when our solar system came into

existence.

One scientist told me that the comets are essentially the things that didn't make the cut to becoming a planet. So they're out there. They're

made mostly of ice and a lot of mineralized rock, dust as well, that's what's floating out around the there.

There's one scientist who also told me that they are sort of like a very dirty snowball. So if you have snow coming down and then you have the

road crews coming up there and then you try to make a snowball out of that mush, that's essentially what you find there floating around in space.

Now there are, of course, also those who believe that the existence of water on our planet might also be due to comets coming into our Earth as

well. About 3.5 billion years ago the comets went onto the Earth, smashed into the Earth. The ice that they're made of turned into water and the

minerals inside those comets might have brought molecules to the Earth in conjunction with sunlight on the Earth and the water from the comet might

have eventually obviously over millions and millions of years turned into life on Earth.

So there's a lot of things that can be gathered from this space probe, a lot of things that could give clues as to where a lot of the minerals

that are on our Earth might come from.

So it certainly is something that is in every sense of the word groundbreaking and simply the fact that they were able to get there is

absolutely amazing, Kristie, because shooting this space probe into space is something that alone did not guarantee that it was actually going to get

into this comet.

I mean, they had to go around Earth several times. They had to use Earth's gravity field to get this thing more momentum to then go towards

the comet. They then had to use Mars as gravity field to try and mate to that comet. And then make the rendezvous with the comet, which is

traveling at 65,000 kilometers an hour, or 41,000 miles an hour, which seems very fast to us, but actually in space terms is not that fast,

because Earth is traveling at about 100,000 kilometers an hour.

But they made that rendezvous. A lot of things went wrong along the way. The rocket they were going to use before the mission misfired on a

different mission and blew up. They had to choose a different comet because they missed their window of opportunity for the comet that they

actually wanted to hit. They had to shut the space probe down for two years on its way to the comet, because it was running out of power.

So there are a lot of things that along the way could have gone wrong. There's a lot of calculation that went into this.

Essentially one of them told me what they did was they took the probe, shot it into -- shot it out with a slingshot, but then hit one tree, hit a

second tree, and then hit a very fast moving target, a very fast and very small moving target, that's what you can equate this to. And there's a lot

of science that went into it, a lot math that went into it. And so certainly they are very proud of themselves.

And the final stages of the mission were really the most difficult where the Rosetta spacecraft, of which I have a very rudimentary model

right here, dropped the Philae lander out and there was absolutely no steering whatsoever possible. They dropped it out. They hoped that their

calculations would be correct. They had a landing zone where they hoped the terrain would be conducive to this lander actually making a fairly soft

landing, because as we've seen, and as this picture now shows, it is very, very rough terrain. And they just dropped it out there, sort of like an

aircraft would drop a bomb in World War I and then essentially hoped that it would reach the correct positions.

And again a lot of things didn't go according to plan in that process. As we've heard the harpoons didn't fire, the booster didn't fire, the

screws didn't do their job, yet the lander is in place and he interesting thing is also -- and this is something that I heard this morning -- it's in

place apparently pretty much where it was supposed to be. Because one of the ways they can tell that is when it actually sends back signals.

And this morning when they regained a radio transmission contact with the lander, it happened within about two minutes of the estimated time that

they thought they were going to receive this signals and that to them showed that they must be pretty close to the exact landing zone that they

wanted to reach.

And I can show you, because I have a smaller model of the comet right here. It's our little rubber ducky that we've come to known in the last

couple of days. The landing zone is about right here. On the top of that sort of -- I would say the head of the rubber ducky shape. And the reason

for that is they believe that here the terrain might be one that would allow the lander to actually make contact there and not topple over and

make a fairly soft landing on here.

And also this is the part that faces the sun. And so this is the place where they believe that they dropped it here, that the solar panels

on the lander would allow it to recharge with energy, because the batteries only last about 60 hours. After that, it shuts itself off.

But if it gets sun energy, then it would be able to reenergize and work again, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Well, Fred, thank you so much for walking us through the mission so far. That was a masterful explainer with all those props in

front of you.

And thank you also for underscoring just how groundbreaking all of this is. And in just a moment, we see behind you they're getting ready for

this press conference. And when that begins we'll get straight back to you right away.

Fred Pleitgen there reporting live from Darmstadt, Germany. Thank you so much, Fred.

Now it would be hard to deny that this mission has achieved on the basis of sheer inspiration alone.

Now CNN's aviation analyst Miles O'Brien says that these ESA scientists have been bold and their timing couldn't be better.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It reminds us that it's good to really just take an audacious mission every now and then, take a big

chance.

I've got to hand it to the European Space Agency. This is a mission that was very risky and yet it was time to do it. And no one was certain

that they would get this far.

You know, imagine, first of all, a vehicle that has been traveling 10 years across the solar system to get to this comet. And then you've got

this refrigerator sized lander on top and you turn it on and you hope all the systems work just right.

Well, the fact that anything works is an amazing thing for me. Imagine leaving your car for 10 years and trying to start it up.

So, this is a great reminder that nothing ventured, nothing gained. If you don't take bold risks like this you don't get the payoff. And we're

getting the payoff even with the glitches.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Miles O'Brien there.

And he is not the only one impressed by this comet landing. Retired Astronaut Leroy Chiao writes on CNN.com that he hopes the Rosetta will help

keep the public engaged in space exploration.

And it has captured your imagination. You can learn more about six other cool space missions that are happening right now. That's all at

CNN.com.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, FIFA clears two countries of alleged corruption in their World Cup bids, but

already this report is under attack. We've got the details.

Plus, U.S. President Barack Obama is meeting with his counterpart in Myanmar today. Will that conversation include a discussion on human

rights? CNN is watching.

And a report on the terrible toll Ebola is taking on children whose parents have died of the disease. That report later in the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now two countries whose winning World Cup bids came under scrutiny are breathing a bit easier today.

Now Russia and Qatar will in fact be allowed to host the upcoming tournaments that they have been awarded now that a special FIFA

investigation has cleared them of any wrongdoing.

It took two years and examined Russia's winning bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament and Qatar's winning bid to host the event in 2022.

Now the report says that the alleged wrongdoing that may have occurred didn't rise to a level that would have compromised the bidding process.

Now let's go straight to the press conference underway in Darmstadt, Germany. The European Space Agency on the first ever landing of a probe on

a comet. Let's listen in.

(ROSETTA MISSION PRESS CONFERENCE)

LU STOUT: And you've been watching the live press conference from the European Space Agency there in Germany. New stunning black and white

images of the Philae lander and the comet its resting on 67-P revealed just then.

The Philae lander, we learned, it bounced twice during its landing, but it remained stable on the comet situated under a cliff. We heard from

the scientists of the ESA just then that the lander is not very far away from the intended landing site in fact just 100 meters away.

Now the world has seen some of these stunning -- you're looking at them right now -- first black and white images from the comet and it's just

extraordinary to underscore that they've been beamed to us hundreds of millions of kilometers away.

Just groundbreaking images from a truly groundbreaking mission.

And that is News Stream. World Business Today from New York is next.

END