Tag: Philae

  • Lost Philae lander found on comet

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    Rosetta’s lander Philae has been identified in OSIRIS narrow-angle camera images taken on Sept. 2, 2016 from a distance of 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers). The image scale is about 2 inches (5 centimeters) per pixel. Philae’s 3-foot-wide (1-meter) body and two of its three legs can be seen extended from the body. The images also…

  • Dizzying final few months planned for Rosetta comet probe

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    Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera took this image of comet 67P on Jan. 23 at a distance of 75 kilometers (46 miles). Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA Entering the final months of a 12-year mission, Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft is again moving closer to the oddball comet that has engaged scientists since it arrived in 2014, heading…

  • ESA plans for Rosetta’s grand finale on comet 67P

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    Artist’s concept of the Rosetta spacecraft with a real image of comet 67P in the background. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab/Rosetta/NAVCAM European Space Agency flight controllers are plotting to send the Rosetta spacecraft on a controlled descent to the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko next year to join the Philae landing probe, which made a bouncy touchdown on…

  • Rosetta gets ringside seat to smelly comet outburst

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    A short-lived outburst from Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko was captured by Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on July 29. Each image was taken 18 minutes apart, showing no activity, a sudden eruption, and then a faint trace of the jet. Rosetta was flying 186 kilometers (115 miles) from the comet at the time of the outburst. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS…

  • New contact with intractable comet lander

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    Artist’s concept of the Philae lander. Credit: DLR Europe’s Rosetta comet probe re-established momentary contact with the Philae lander late Thursday, renewing hopes of starting up the craft’s research instruments after two weeks of radio silence dampened the moods of scientists. Thursday’s contact, which lasted 12 minutes before failing, was the first time ground controllers…

  • For comet scientists, elation and redemption at Philae’s wakeup

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    Artist’s concept of Philae. Credit: ESA Research teams across Europe spent the last half-year meticulously going through a wish list of experiments for the Philae comet lander without knowing whether they would ever get a chance to execute the tasks. With Philae now awake after a seven-month slumber, scientists are eager to turn on the…

  • Engineers seek to stabilize radio link with comet lander

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    Rosetta’s navigation camera captured this view of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko awakened by the sun June 5. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NavCam Emboldened by renewed contact with Europe’s comet lander, engineers are repositioning the mission’s Rosetta mothership this week to establish a reliable a communications link with the dishwasher-sized Philae landing craft, a prerequisite for resuming a science campaign abbreviated…

  • Comet lander wakes up!

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    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Artist’s concept of the Philae lander. Credit: DLR The European Space Agency’s Philae comet lander, out of power and presumably lost after bouncing into heavily shadowed terrain last November, phoned home Saturday after finally getting enough sunlight on its solar panels to transmit data to the Rosetta orbiter…

  • Rosetta keeps its distance from awakening comet

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    Rosetta’s navigation camera took images for this mosaic of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on April 8. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM Mission controllers are rethinking a series of close-up comet flybys planned for Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft after a haze of dust around the comet’s central nucleus led to navigation errors during a close encounter in late March. Rosetta’s computer put…

  • Rosetta begins listening for signs of life from comet lander

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    Artist’s concept of the Philae comet lander. Credit: DLR Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft is trying to contact the Philae landing probe for the first time since the robot fell silent after a bouncy landing on a comet in November. Although there are slim odds of hearing from Philae in the first communications window this month, scientists…