Tag: Rosetta

  • New contact with intractable comet lander

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    Artist’s concept of the Philae lander. Credit: DLR Europe’s Rosetta comet probe re-established momentary contact with the Philae lander late Thursday, renewing hopes of starting up the craft’s research instruments after two weeks of radio silence dampened the moods of scientists. Thursday’s contact, which lasted 12 minutes before failing, was the first time ground controllers…

  • For comet scientists, elation and redemption at Philae’s wakeup

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    Artist’s concept of Philae. Credit: ESA Research teams across Europe spent the last half-year meticulously going through a wish list of experiments for the Philae comet lander without knowing whether they would ever get a chance to execute the tasks. With Philae now awake after a seven-month slumber, scientists are eager to turn on the…

  • Engineers seek to stabilize radio link with comet lander

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    Rosetta’s navigation camera captured this view of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko awakened by the sun June 5. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NavCam Emboldened by renewed contact with Europe’s comet lander, engineers are repositioning the mission’s Rosetta mothership this week to establish a reliable a communications link with the dishwasher-sized Philae landing craft, a prerequisite for resuming a science campaign abbreviated…

  • Comet lander wakes up!

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    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Artist’s concept of the Philae lander. Credit: DLR The European Space Agency’s Philae comet lander, out of power and presumably lost after bouncing into heavily shadowed terrain last November, phoned home Saturday after finally getting enough sunlight on its solar panels to transmit data to the Rosetta orbiter…

  • Philae awakes from comet slumber ready to return to work

    Philae awakes from comet slumber ready to return to work

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    European scientists have confirmed their brave little lander Philae has managed to regain communications with its Rosetta mothership. The lander had been in hibernation after its sporty landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko but awoke some time ago. However, Sunday’s announcement marked the first successful re-establishment of communication between the spacecraft. Philae’s Back! *LIVE Landing Coverage here* *LIVE +1…

  • Tour comet 67P in Rosetta’s latest image release

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    The latest batch of images released from the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission shows the brutal gray landscape of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in vivid detail. ESA posted 1,776 images from Rosetta’s navigation camera on the agency’s website Thursday, adding to a growing catalog of imagery of comet 67P since the probe arrived in August 2014. The…

  • Rosetta keeps its distance from awakening comet

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    Rosetta’s navigation camera took images for this mosaic of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on April 8. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM Mission controllers are rethinking a series of close-up comet flybys planned for Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft after a haze of dust around the comet’s central nucleus led to navigation errors during a close encounter in late March. Rosetta’s computer put…

  • Rosetta probe disoriented by comet dust

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    This view of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by Rosetta’s navigation camera on March 22, showing a cloud of dust and gas surrounding the nucleus. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM Ground controllers are analyzing a fault aboard Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft after an encounter with comet dust confused the probe’s navigation system, leaving the robot explorer in a temporary safe…

  • Rosetta begins listening for signs of life from comet lander

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    Artist’s concept of the Philae comet lander. Credit: DLR Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft is trying to contact the Philae landing probe for the first time since the robot fell silent after a bouncy landing on a comet in November. Although there are slim odds of hearing from Philae in the first communications window this month, scientists…

  • Rosetta glimpses its own shadow on comet 67P

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    Close view of a 228 x 228 m region on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, as seen by the OSIRIS narrow-angle camera during Rosetta’s flyby at 12:39 UT on 14 February 2015. The image was taken six kilometers above the comet’s surface, and the image resolution is just 11 cm/pixel. Rosetta’s fuzzy shadow, measuring approximately 20 x 50…