Wake up Rosetta!

[Trapezium Artist]

Well I was busy over in the States with my family over Xmas so couldn't manage anything then, but I just uploaded my video now

I am waiting for it to be moderated on the mission Facebook page, but in the meantime it's here - http://youtu.be/KVxb8iVWeig - in all its lo-fi glory. So vote away if you like, but do look at the others, there are some cool things on there!

Rock'n'roll, Jim: excellent one. Thanks a lot

There are indeed some great little videos in the selection; gives me a real warm fuzzy feeling to realise that people are so motivated.

Fingers crossed for Monday and those with a UK location might want to tune into Newsnight, as there's a growing possibility that TA will be on again, but squaring off against Paxman this time.

Gulp 

[JimD]

Fingers crossed for Monday and those with a UK location might want to tune into Newsnight, as there's a growing possibility that TA will be on again, but squaring off against Paxman this time.

Gulp 

Phear not the Paxman - he might be a secret space-fan who just wants to know what is going to happen?! If the interview does happen you will be super-kool I am sure. Normally he is used to grilling politicians about politricks; you Sire will be explaining how to land on a comet, knowledge of which I am sure is sparser than expenses and lobbying!

Had a quick login to FB just now to see how my vid was doing. 8 votes, but Tasmin Archer has 11!

http://woobox.com/vqgzq5/vote/for/1838808

[MikeEvs]

I had a really great idea but I'm afraid we've been extra busy in work and I just haven't had time to get it done which is a shame as it would have been epic

[Trapezium Artist]

I had a really great idea but I'm afraid we've been extra busy in work and I just haven't had time to get it done which is a shame as it would have been epic

Well, if time is the problem, Mike, you could do worse than record a video of yourself explaining the idea 

[owen]

I had a really great idea but I'm afraid we've been extra busy in work and I just haven't had time to get it done which is a shame as it would have been epic

Well, if time is the problem, Mike, you could do worse than record a video of yourself explaining the idea 

Busted!

I've got no idea, and if I had the execution of it would be laughable. Good luck with Paxman. Tell him you preferred him bearded!

[Mikey]

Frost*ies v. students and scientists from the TU Braunschweig

Come on peeps, we're being thrashed

[Trapezium Artist]

Frost*ies v. students and scientists from the TU Braunschweig

Come on peeps, we're being thrashed

That's it, Mikey: get 'em riled, get 'em pumped up. Frost*ies can be a mean lot when cornered ...

[catherine]

I see TA is quoted in today's Times in "Mission controllers wake comet-chaser from space 'sleep'" on page 41.
Bit disappointed you didn't manage to get a subtle mention of Frost in there, TA - the closest you managed was "ice".

[Trapezium Artist]

I see TA is quoted in today's Times in "Mission controllers wake comet-chaser from space 'sleep'" on page 41.
Bit disappointed you didn't manage to get a subtle mention of Frost in there, TA - the closest you managed was "ice".

The Times? I don't even recall talking to them ... 

It's become a bit of a blur, to be honest. I did a nice radio interview with Voice Of America earlier in the week that'll be broadcast this weekend.

There will also be a BBC crew at the event on Monday doing regular live updates to various news programmes during the day, so look out for me there. (Quite why they're bothering is anyone's guess: there's essentially no chance of a signal until early evening, so at best they'll be raising some faux tension).

[Pedro]

Really sorry to let the side down on this, TA.
I was rather burned-out with work and family stuff over the Xmas period and I've not been paying proper attention here. 
I can only wish you the best of luck with it and try to keep up with developments from here on.

[Trapezium Artist]

Really sorry to let the side down on this, TA.
I was rather burned-out with work and family stuff over the Xmas period and I've not been paying proper attention here. 
I can only wish you the best of luck with it and try to keep up with developments from here on.

No problem at all, Pedro. Actually, I feel a little guilty about abusing my privileges as a member of this forum, spamming people and "encouraging" them to be interested in Rosetta. While it's not quite the same as using the forum to advertise furniture, there's a concomitant danger.

That said, I suspect that many Frost*ies do harbour an interest for cool things like this, quite apart from the ice/frost connection 

In any case, if we get the wake-up signal on Monday and the spacecraft checks out ok, you can be sure that we'll be leveraging the social campaign even further as we get towards comet rendezvous and landing. So, you'll all have plenty more chances, we hope 

[owen]

I keep scouring the Grauniad's Rosetta comet-chasing spacecraft wakes up – live blog: but not a single sign of a TA can I find

[Mordwin]

No doubt there are a lot of very relieved people at ESA right now

[owen]

Yay TA! 

[Trapezium Artist]

Yay TA! 

Oh, yesterday was one of those days you never forget. Amazing. I was in the control room for the signal arrival: tension like you wouldn't believe, relief and elation you can see in the pictures. Special.

This is just the beginning: imagine how it's going to be when we deploy the lander 

And after doing live TV interviews with BBC World, BBC News, Sky News, Al Jazeera (yup), and others, my new friend Mr Paxman was very nice to me. Lovely interview ... Hope it came over that way on Newsnight yesterday (haven't seen it yet; am now in Paris for the next meeting).