Monday, June 15, 2015

Philae comet lander

Philae comet lander has taken on the surface of Comet 67P
(Churyumov-Gerasimenko) from seven-month hibernation.

It was announced by European Space Agency (ESA) after the comet lander
managed to communicate with Earth for more than a minute.

In November 2014, Philae comet lander had created space history by
becoming first to probe landed on a comet. The historic feat was
achieved after it was dropped on to the surface of Comet 67P by its
mothership Rosetta.

After successfully landing on the comet it had worked for 60 hours and
had conducted experiments and transmitted that data to Earth before
going into hibernation after its solar-powered battery ran flat.

Probe resumed its communication on 14 June 2015 by sending about 300
packages of data to Earth via its mother ship Rosetta which is still
orbiting the comet.

Timeline of Philae's journey

1. March 2004: ESA's unmanned probe Rosetta was successfully launched
from Kourou, French Guiana.

2. February 2007: The probe carries out a close flyby of Mars.

3. September 2008: Probe successfully passes close to an asteroid 2867
located 400 million km from Earth.

4. July 2010: The probe transmits first pictures from the largest
asteroid ever visited by a satellite Lutetia in between Mars and
Jupiter.

5. August 2014: It swings alongside comet 67P situated in between the
orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

6. November 2014: Philae lander successfully lands on comet after it
is released from Rosetta.

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