On Nov. 12, imagination became reality. The Philae probe disconnected from the Rosetta orbiter and had a successful landing on comet 67p. The Rosetta orbiter carrying the philae probe left Earth 10 years ago on a 310 million mile journey. The landing was one of the few successful landings on a moving comet. Jim Green, NASA scientist, described the difficulty of landing Philae on a moving comet as, “It’s like hitting a golf ball and ending up hitting the moon.” The Rosetta orbiter and the Philae have gotten themselves a place in the history books. “Not only is it the first to rendezvous with and orbit a comet, but it is now also the first to deliver a lander to a comet’s surface,” Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s director general.
Everyone is excited about the information that the spacecraft will deliver. They are hoping that Rosetta will answer the very big questions about the history of our solar system. Matt Taylor, hopes that it could uncover hidden secrets like, “What were the conditions like at its infancy and how did it evolve? What role did comets play in this evolution? How do comets work?”
However, recently ESA and NASA have run into problems. The probe’s landing didn’t go as planned, after Philae detached from the Rosetta orbiter. It took two bounces away from its designated landing spot, and never fired its anchoring harpoon. It ended up in a shady spot on Comet 67P. Originally, it was supposed to have seven hours of light per comet day, which would be enough sun light to charge the battery to operate for 12.4 hours. However, now it is exposed only 1.5 hours a day. That’s likely not enough power up Philae’s rechargeable secondary battery.
However, there is some good news. Before powering down Philae turned on its instruments, drilling for samples, and while there was still time, they transferred data. It is also possible that the conditions may change as the comet moves closer to the sun, making it possible to charge the secondary battery. Then Philae could awaken from its deep slumber and send data and photo back to Earth. Even with the lander out of commission, the Rosetta orbiter that carried the Philae lander will continue to transmit observations of the comet.
The probe even has its own twitter account which has tweeted a couple of things like, “I’m feeling a bit tired, did you get all my data? I might take a nap,” a post read. Another one read,
“So much hard work,.. getting tired… my battery voltage is approaching the limit soon now,”
