Rosetta and Philae

Welcome_to_a_comet_R

That’s Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, with one of lander Philae’s feet at the lower center. Because it bounced twice after its initial landing, Philae is not in the middle of a nice flat surface, but rather up against a cliff which is shading its solar panels. ESA has managed to rotate it 35 degrees in hopes that one of the larger of its panels can pick up enough solar energy to recharge its battery, but if that doesn’t work then Philae is done with its science. It was highly successful while on the comet, though, completing every one of its first batch of experiments. Rosetta will continue to accompany the comet as it moves around the sun.

Here was the last tweet between the two spacecraft:

If you’re curious, go to Twitter and search for the hashtag #CometLanding.

I’ve been enthralled by this. All this science is taking place some 300,000,000 miles away from us on a comet that’s about 2.5 miles long by 2.8 miles high. Oh, and it’s about 4.6 billion years old. That’s staggering.