The
ESA (European Space Agency) may finally re-establish contact with the
Philae lander sometime in May
or June.
That is when the comet 67P/Churgumov-Gerasimenka will be close enough
to the Sun to recharge the batteries of the probe. Then Philae will
be able to continue its mission that was cut short two and a half
months ago.
"Now
we need the extra solar illumination provided by the comet's closer
proximity to the Sun by that time in order to bring the lander back
to life," said Lander
Project Manager Stephan Ulamec from the German Aerospace Center
(DLR).
Because of the location and the
solar panel not being fully deployed the land won't be able to take
full advantage of the Sun when the comet is within range. So, if and
when the Philae lander does wake up it might not be enough to restore
access to all of its instruments.
“We
are already discussing and preparing which instruments should be
operated for how long,” project scientist Stephan Ulamec said
in a statement.
The Philae lander first made news
last November when it became the first man-made object to land on a
comet. The
landing, though, didn't go exactly the way it was planned when
the anchoring harpoons did not function properly causing the lander
to bounce a few times. It ended up finally coming back down in area
that would only provide the batteries a fifth, 1.3 of the 6.5 hours,
of the sunlight it needs each 12.4 comet day it needs to re-charge.
Leaving Philae only enough power to last a couple of days before
going dark.
The rough landing that caused the
Philae probe to wind up in the wrong location has some good and bad
aspects. The bad part of the land was that by landing where it did
the probe ran out of power and went into sleep mode. The good news
those is that by landing in a more shaded area, of the comet, Philae
will be protect from the heat of the Sun that would have killed it.
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