The European Space Agency's Philae lander made history when it bounded across the surface of Comet 67P - a nd the Rosetta mothership above the comet caught the whole thing on camera.
The Rosetta probe that carried Philae on the 10-year journey to Comet 67P has been hovering over the ball of ice and dirt at a distance of about 10 miles. The OSIRIS camera the probe is equipped with caught all the action when Philae jettisoned from Rosetta on its fateful approach to the comet. Breathtaking and poignant images have now been revealed of Philae's descent and wild ride as it skittered across the surface before finally coming to its final resting spot, far off course and shrouded in the shadow of a nearby cliffside.
When Philae first made contact, the probe - which only had the weight of around a gram thanks to Comet 67P's minuscule gravity - bounced right off. ESA engineers had prepared for such a case by equipping the lander with a harpoon-like tethering system, but the device failed; it took two hours for Philae to settle back down to the surface of the comet, only to take another hop. It wasn't until the third touchdown that the probe stuck the landing in the darkened shadows of the cliff ridge, making it nearly impossible for it to recharge its solar batteries. This ended Philae's mission once its internal power ran down, but it was able to send back all the data it had gathered from its instruments back to Rosetta for analysis.
Now, the images of Philae's first, last and only flight, including the wild hops the lander made across 67P, have been published by the ESA. It's a fitting tribute to the historic achievement of landing a probe on a distant comet successfully, and it's been a source of hope and a reminder that Philae may be able to be resurrected when the comet creeps closer to the sun. Stephan Ulamec, the ESA's manager of the Philae lander program, says that by next spring the sunlight hitting the exposed surfaces of Philae may be strong enough to bring it back to life, if only briefly.
Born and raised in New York, David DeMar is a Science and Technology writer for Betawired. A professional copywriter and fiction author, David lives in New York's Adirondack State Park with his wife, five cats, and young daughter. When David grows up, he hopes to enlist in the military - but only if he's allowed to pilot the giant robot.
Posted by Unknown on Monday, November 17, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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