nealmcb

As the comet gets more active, the plan is for Rosetta to watch from further out, beyond the Hill radius within which orbits are possible. What are the tradeoffs there? What are the implications and risks of being blown off-course by the emissions from the comet? How fast does stuff come out of the comet, how big is it, and could it damage Rosetta? What do you miss by being further out?

As a geek trying to understand the pictures and visualize things, and as one who likes students to have fun stuff to chew on, I'm often interested in operational data from you all, like detailed orbital paths and positioning information. I was delighted that ESA released a wire mesh model of the comet (fun for 3D printing!): http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2014/10/03/measuring-comet-67pc-g/ Can we get orbital path details that we can combine with the 3D mesh and picture timestamps to model the orientation of Rosetta at the comet during observations? What data formats and software would be appropriate for that kind of information?

In another answer they said Philae ops and instruments mostly used Forth(!)

How would the mission have looked different if you had been able to use nuclear power, like most of the other missions headed far out from the sun, rather than solar power? I'm thinking in terms of weight differences, power differences, robustness to orientation of the spacecraft, etc.