The probe's landing didn't go as planned this week, after Philae detached from the Rosetta orbiter. It took two bounces away from its designated landing spot, and never fired its anchoring harpoon. "The lander remains unanchored to the surface at an as Mission control reestablished contact with the Philae lander today after several tense hours … Read more
At 11:05 a.m. EST Wednesday, Nov. 12, European Space Agency mission control confirmed that the Philae lander had successfully touched down on the comet67P/Churyumox-Gerasimenko. But some problems with the GEOFF BRUMFIEL, BYLINE: The lander called Philae is about the size of a washing machine. It was supposed to land on a flat spot and it … Read more
The Philae lander hit the two-and-a-half-mile-wide comet at a walking pace, a bit more than 2 mph. A cold gas thruster was programmed to fire at touchdown to help push the lander down while two harpoons shot into the soil to anchor the spacecraft in place. After Rosetta's ten year journey — capped off with … Read more
The Philae lander hit the two-and-a-half-mile-wide comet at a walking pace, a bit more than 2 mph. A cold gas thruster was programmed to fire at touchdown to help push the lander down while two harpoons shot into the soil to anchor the spacecraft in place. After Rosetta's ten year journey — capped off with … Read more