Rosetta Mission Update: ESA Racing Time To Wake Up Dead Comet Lander Philae
- 8 years ago
Time is running out for the comet lander Philae, which has been in hibernation since July 9 last year.
For scientists, every moment without contact with the sleeping space probe means coming closer to losing it completely.
This is why the European Space Agency (ESA) is doing all its best to wake up the long-silent comet lander.
European scientists will transmit a signal into space on Sunday, Jan. 10, to try to nudge Philae back to life and hopefully restore contact.
ESA and DLR experts said there are several possibilities as to what Philae's condition on the comet is.
Philae may just be too dusty to power on, so the DLR team plans to take advantage of Philae's momentum wheel called "flywheel" and command it to spin.
The flywheel is a device that stabilized the comet lander's descent to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
For scientists, every moment without contact with the sleeping space probe means coming closer to losing it completely.
This is why the European Space Agency (ESA) is doing all its best to wake up the long-silent comet lander.
European scientists will transmit a signal into space on Sunday, Jan. 10, to try to nudge Philae back to life and hopefully restore contact.
ESA and DLR experts said there are several possibilities as to what Philae's condition on the comet is.
Philae may just be too dusty to power on, so the DLR team plans to take advantage of Philae's momentum wheel called "flywheel" and command it to spin.
The flywheel is a device that stabilized the comet lander's descent to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.