Comet lander Philae no longer responds to commands

Philae, the spacecraft that landed on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014, seems unable to wake up. The European Space Agency made attempts to control the lander, but were unsuccessful.

ESA has recently instructed the Philae lander to perform a maneuver, but has received no response from the vehicle. Stephan Ulamec, who works as a manager at the space agency, says it is necessary to be realistic about the chances of bringing Philae back to life, he said in a response to New Scientist. “The odds are getting smaller every day as we get further and further away from the sun,” said Ulamec. This means that the chance that the solar panels will still charge the battery of the comet lander is becoming smaller and smaller.

Philae was able to successfully wake up last June, after the solar panels started charging the vehicle again. The power supply issues are related to unforeseen difficulties in landing, which was rougher than intended. As a result, Philae eventually came to a stop in a different place, and less light fell on the solar panels than intended.

In November, the researchers received data from Philae’s measurements on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, or 67P for short. According to the ESA, the lander probably has more interesting information in its memory, but it seems unlikely that it can be sent to Earth.

There remains a trick to gather more information about the comet Philae landed on. Satellite Rosetta, following the path of 67P, will crash controlled later this year, but will be able to take a few more pictures in the meantime. That should provide the ESA with more information about the exact location where Philae landed, allowing for a better interpretation of the data sent by the lander.

In November 2014, Philae landed at 67P, the first successful spacecraft landing on a comet. The mission was therefore a great success for the ESA, but did not run smoothly. The bounce problems have to do with a lack of gravity on such relatively small objects.