Home

Lost comet lander awakes, sends ‘hello’ from space

1 Comment

~~~~CNN1

Click link below picture

.

Many moons ago, a small space probe named Philae skipped across the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko when the lander’s harpoon-like anchoring mechanism failed. It came to rest in a shady spot and, without enough sunlight to keep it powered, it fell asleep after about 60 hours of operation.

Mission scientists had been trying to pinpoint its location since November — until late Saturday.

At 10:28 p.m., the European Space Agency’s operations center in Darmstadt, Germany, just south of Frankfurt, received a signal from Philae, which transmitted more than 300 data packets. Those have been analyzed at the Lander Control Center at the German Aerospace Center, which dubbed Philae’s emergence from its seven-month slumber a “‘hello’ from space.”

.

!!!!!LanderPhilae1!!!!!LanderPhilae2.

.

Click link below for article, videos and photos:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/14/world/philae-comet-lander-found/index.html

.

__________________________________________

 

Historic! Europe’s Philae Probe Lands on Comet 317 Million Miles Away

1 Comment

~~~~NBCNews1
Click link below picture
.

After a suspense-packed, seven-hour descent, the European Space Agency’s Philae lander made an unprecedented touchdown on the surface of a comet Wednesday — marking the high point of a $1.3 billion, 10-year mission.

Cheers erupted as the confirming signals were received at the European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany, at 11:03 a.m. ET. The signals took 28 minutes to travel at the speed of light over the 317 million miles (510 million kilometers) between Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and Earth.

 “It is sitting on the surface,” reported Stefan Ulamec, Philae lander manager at the DLR German Aerospace Center. “Philae is talking to us — we are on the comet!”
.
!!!!!SpacecraftOnComet1
.
.
Click link below for article and videos:
.
__________________________________________