Bounce goes the Comet Lander

By S Gray

Rosetta’s lander Philae is safely on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, as these first two CIVA images confirm. One of the lander’s three feet can be seen in the foreground. The image is a two-image mosaic. The full panoramic from CIVA will be delivered in this afternoon’s press briefing at 13:00 GMT/14:00 CET.

Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA

Comet Lander Philae is now stable on the surface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. European Space Agency (Esa) scientists are still trying to determine its exact location, but its presumed to be about 1km away from its intended landing site. After bouncing twice, the first time hundreds of metres back into space, the lander has come to rest in the shadow of a cliff. The location of the lander could prove problematic as its solar panels aren't receiving enough sunlight to recharge its battery system.

It is receiving approximately 1.5 hours of light in every 12-hour rotation of 67P. This is insufficient to top up the initial charge it had when it decoupled from Rosetta, which was enough for 60+ hours. This means that if a solution isn't found Philae will be unlikely to continue operating past Saturday. The lander is equipped with 3 feet capable of hopping Philae around. However, the precarious position of the lander, one of its feet is currently in the air possibly hanging over the side of a crater, make this manoeuvre to risky.

Another possibility is to deploy an instrument named Mupus that will likely shift the lander's position. Even a slight change in the angle at which Philae is resting could improve the amount of sunlight reaching its solar arrays dramatically. A panoramic photo will be taken after the instrument is deployed to determine if there has been any movement.