Introduction
In a first of its kind, the scientists manning the Rosetta Orbiter
were able to drop a tiny probe called Philae on the surface of a comet with
great precision. The probe landed on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
on November 17, 2014. Due to the malfunctioning of the anchoring mechanism, the
lander fell into a small ditch on the surface of the comet. Being a shady spot,
this ditch had shut off the sunlight to the solar panel of the lander, forcing
it to go into a slumber. After it’s touching on the surface, the lander had worked
only for about 60 hours.
Change in Comet Climate
After slipping into the standby mode, the landing device was
contacted at least 3 times in the past. Nothing seemed to work as the lander
could not replenish the charge in the batteries from the attached solar panel.
That time, the comet was moving away from the sun. Since April this year
(2015), the comet seemed to have changed the direction and is now fast heading
towards the sun. That is the reason more light is percolating down the gorge to
reach the solar panel that powers the probe. This started happening my May 2015.
With this change, the scientists working with European Space Agency (ESA) have
started to pin hope on its revival.
Probe Comes Back to Life
In June 2015, the Operations Centre of ESA situated in
Darmstadt, Germany, has started suddenly receiving signals from Philae. After
proper recharging of the batteries, the probe on the comet has started sending signals
to its parent craft Rosetta Orbiter. The parent spacecraft has in turn re-transmitted
these signals to the ESA Operations Centre in Germany. After decoding the 300
data packets received from the probe, the scientists at Lander Control Wing of
the German Aerospace Centre has announced that it has emerged from its 7-month
slumber with a message “Hello” from space. The jubilant Philae Project Manager
announced that the lander’s vital parameters are reported normal. He further
elaborated that it has begun operations at a temperature of -35 degree Celsius.
Slight Delay in Work Resumption
With the available charge of 24 watts, the probe is ready
for its designed work. However, it will take some time. This is because the
scientists have to check all the scientific instruments on board. The
scientists are working round-the-clock to check whether the complete charge
drainage has had any impact on these instruments. After this checking, the work
of the lander would resume. The scientists are waiting for that day.
