The lander was part of the European Space Agency's groundbreaking Rosetta mission. The mission aimed to send the first ever spacecraft to examine a comet for an extended period of time at close range. Philae was dropped onto comet 67P in November 2014 and began sending information back to Earth. The mission to send Philae to the comet was lead by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR). The craft is also controlled by DLR from its Lander Control Centre (LCC) at its user centre for space experiments in Cologne. It made history by being the first ever spacecraft to land on the surface of a comet. This was no mean feat as Philae had to travel 6.5 billion km through space for more than a decade. Philae was part of the pioneering Rosetta mission, which aimed to provide a better understanding of comets and the early solar system. The craft was on a 10-year mission to catch the comet. The Rosetta mission launched in 2004, Philae did not land on the comet until 12 November 2014.
Is There Any Hope For Philae?
Philae's communication systems will stay online until it runs out of battery. This means there is still a chance we could receive some kind of signal, but we probably shouldn't get our hopes up. While there's always hope that we might hear from the lander again, the harsh conditions of outer space mean that it is very unlikely we will ever hear from the lander again. Despite the disappearance of Philae, the Rosetta mission will carry on. The mission's mother ship, the Rosetta, will continue to investigate comet 67P until September when scientists will try to also land it on the comet. Farewell, Philae lander. Hey, you. Yeah, you. You want some more science? Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for your next fix.
