Philae Lander Found on Comet 67P
Credit & Copyright: ESA,
Rosetta,
MPS, OSIRIS;
UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA/Navcam
Explanation:
A little spacecraft that was presumed lost has now been found.
In 2014, the Philae lander slowly descended from its parent
Rosette spacecraft
to the nucleus of
Comet C67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
At the surface, after a harpoon malfunction,
the lander bounced
softly twice and eventually sent back images from an
unknown location.
Earlier this month, though,
Rosette swooped low enough
to
spot its cub.
The
meter-sized Philae is seen on the far right of the
main
image,
with inset images showing both a zoom out and a zoom in.
At the end of this month, Rosette itself will be directed to land on
67P, but Rosette's landing will be harder and, although
taking unique images and data, will bring the mission
to an end.
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Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
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NASA Official: Jay Norris.
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LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
