{"id":16822,"date":"2014-11-18T17:24:45","date_gmt":"2014-11-18T09:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/philae-finds-comet-harbors-organics\/"},"modified":"2014-11-18T17:24:45","modified_gmt":"2014-11-18T09:24:45","slug":"philae-finds-comet-harbors-organics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/philae-finds-comet-harbors-organics\/","title":{"rendered":"Philae finds comet harbors organics"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A
A view of comet 67P\/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Rosetta when it flew 10 kilometers away. Credit: ESA\/NAVCAM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Europe\u2019s Philae lander found a surface as hard as ice and organic molecules after it bounced to a stop on a comet last week.<\/p>\n

Scientists looking over the spoils from the plucky little Philae probe released some of the first results from the mission Monday after a hectic week of descent preparations, a dramatic landing that included three touchdowns, and more than 60 hours of data gathering.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have collected a great deal of valuable data, which could only have been acquired through direct contact with the comet,\u201d said Ekkehard Kuhrt, scientific director for the Philae mission at DLR \u2014 the German space agency. \u201cTogether with the measurements performed by the Rosetta orbiter, we are well on our way to achieving a greater understanding of comets. Their surface properties appear to be quite different than was previously thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

After coming to rest on its side, Philae continued transmitting data intermittently when in range of Rosetta, the European-built orbiter that deployed the refrigerator-sized lander for its descent Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Rosetta continues flying around comet 67P\/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, with at least another year of observations planned as the icy world moves toward the sun. It will heat up and give off more gas and dust through perihelion \u2014 its closest approach to the sun \u2014 in August 2015.<\/p>\n

Before its battery died, Philae unfurled an instrument boom to study the comet\u2019s surface properties. The MUPUS instrument was designed to hammer into the nucleus about 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) from the lander, and data show the system worked as planned despite Philae\u2019s precarious position lodged against a rocky face at an angle with one leg pointing into space.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the power of the hammer was gradually increased, we were not able to go deep into the surface,\u201d said Tilman Spohn, head of the MUPUS instrument on Philae. \u201cWe have acquired a wealth of data, which we must now analyze.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a DLR press release, the MUPUS team estimates the outer skin of the comet\u2019s nucleus \u2014 at least where Philae settled after its bouncy landing \u2014 is as hard as ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith MUPUS it has been possible to directly study the strength of a comet\u2019s surface for the first time \u2014 and 67P\/Churyumov-Gerasimenko proved to be a \u2018tough nut to crack,’\u201d DLR said in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n

The MUPUS sensors were supposed to measure the comet\u2019s temperature, the mechanical properties of its surface, and its thermal conductivity.<\/p>\n

Only thermal and acceleration sensors in Philae\u2019s two harpoons were not used, DLR said, because the anchoring system was not deployed during landing.<\/p>\n

Data collected by Philae\u2019s SESAME experiment suite support MUPUS results indicating the comet\u2019s unexpected toughness. Early findings also show a low level of cometary activity at the probe\u2019s landing site and a large amount of water ice under the lander, according to DLR.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe strength of the ice founds under a layer of dust on the first landing site is surprisingly high,\u201d said Klaus Seidensticker from the DLR Institute of Planetary Research, lead scientist on the SESAME instrument package, which was expected to study the comet\u2019s composition and electrical, structural and mechanical characteristics.<\/p>\n

On Friday \u2014 the lander\u2019s last day of operations \u2014 ground controllers sent commands to activate Philae\u2019s drill. The system was designed to collect core samples a few inches deep and deliver the material into two of the lander\u2019s instruments \u2014 ovens that would have heated up the bits of rock or ice to measure their make-up.<\/p>\n

While officials said Monday it was clear the drill worked, they could not say whether it gathered samples and deposited them in the lander\u2019s instruments.<\/p>\n

One of Philae\u2019s sample analysis sensors \u2014 named COSAC \u2014 did collect data in \u201csniff\u201d mode and detected organic molecules, presumably outgassing just above the comet\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n

Philae\u2019s descent imaging camera was also switched back on and took up-close images of the comet\u2019s nucleus at the lander\u2019s final resting site. The down-facing camera also recorded imagery of Philae\u2019s descent to the craft\u2019s initial landing site before it rebounded to two more touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Scientists were also able to use Philae in conjunction with Rosetta to study the comet\u2019s internal structure, DLR said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo achieve this, the lander and orbiter were on different sides of the comet and worked together to analyse the comet nucleus by passing radio signals through it and creating a three-dimensional profile of the core,\u201d the DLR statement said.<\/p>\n

Scientists are hopeful Philae will recharge its batteries in the coming weeks and months, allowing for the mission to resume as the comet nears the sun.<\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A view of comet 67P\/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Rosetta when it flew 10 kilometers away. Credit: ESA\/NAVCAM Europe\u2019s Philae lander found a surface as hard as ice and organic molecules after it bounced to a stop on a comet last week. Scientists looking over the spoils from the plucky little Philae probe released some of the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3573,3609,3373],"class_list":["post-16822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-comet-landing","tag-philae","tag-rosetta"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16822"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16822\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}