• crispy_kilt@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    Space? Europe recently landed on a comet, something no one else has done, something even NASA has never achieved.

    Rosetta was the first spacecraft to orbit a comet nucleus, and was the first spacecraft to fly alongside a comet as it headed towards the inner Solar System. It became the first spacecraft to examine at close proximity the activity of a frozen comet as it is warmed by the Sun. Shortly after its arrival at 67P, the Rosetta orbiter dispatched the Philae lander for the first controlled touchdown on a comet nucleus. The robotic lander’s instruments obtained the first images from a comet’s surface and made the first in situ analysis of its composition.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_(spacecraft)

    Furthermore, do you know who makes the machines that TSMC uses to create the chips that power the worlds smartphones and countless other devices? A European company. Yes Taiwan makes the CPUs, but we make the CPU makers.

    • luk3th3dud3@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      I am a proud European, but do not kid yourself. The United States are light years ahead in space technology. The Ariane program is a complete clusterfuck as of now.

      • crispy_kilt@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        Is US rocket supremacy why Союз rockets were bringing most of the US stuff into LEO the last 20 years or so?

        • luk3th3dud3@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          The Soyuz is not a bad rocket, neither is the Ariane. It is just that technology has advanced quite significantly in the last few years. And rockets are just a (very visible) part of space technology.

            • luk3th3dud3@feddit.de
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              1 year ago

              Okay lets see. What I meant is: at its time, the Ariane 5 was a great program. Now is a different time. Now we have got SpaceX (and RocketLab etc.) and at the same time the Ariane 6 is already outdated before it is ever launched. At the same time, the Ariane 6 program has run into major delays, so it is not even clear when the first launch will be – probably 2024.

              Reusable rocket technology is where it’s at if we as Europeans want to stay relevant in the commercial launch sector.