Kerry astronomers land star

THE Kerry Astronomy Club landed a major victory last Wednesday night in securing the services of Laurence O’ Rourke of the European Space Agency (ESA) for an evening talk on the ‘Rosetta Mission - The dangers of orbiting and landing on a comet’.

Rosetta, a space probe built by the European Space Agency and designed to perform a detailed study of a comet known as 67P, captured the hearts of the public back in November 2014, when its landing module Philae became the first man-made object to be successfully landed on a comet.

The room in the Meadowlands Hotel in Tralee was packed to the rafters with close to 40 eager space enthusiasts, both young and old, gathered to listen to Laurence – who was one of the principal engineers and scientists on the Rosetta mission.

Buoyed no doubt by the wide-eyed wonder in the eyes of the audience, Laurence gave a detailed presentation on everything from the structure of the comet, potential landing sights, the dangers involved in landing on a rotating comet and the estimated location of the lost Philae lander.

“We were absolutely delighted with how the evening went; we’d a fantastic turn out and the room was full of so many new faces which is just great for the club,” said Paddy Stack, one of the organisers of the evening.

“Laurence was delighted with all the questions and the enthusiasm shown by the audience and we’re just hoping that it will lead to more interest in astronomy in the county,” Paddy told The Kerryman following the successful event.

Rosetta Mission scientist Laurence O’Rourke at the talk he gave in the Meadowlands last week, pictured with Kerry Astronomy Club members Paddy Stack, John Keane and Kevin Lawlor.