astronomy

Philae Has Landed!

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 “We are the first to (land on a comet) and that will remain forever!”

Jubilation at ESA!
A Philae selfie, just shortly after it separated from Rosetta.
A Rosetta selfie just after Philae separation. Courtesy ESA/Rosetta mission.

Congratulations to ESA and its partners for successfully landing the Philae probe on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.  It was an incredibly intricate and difficult task, but they pulled it off!

As of 8:03 a.m. MST (16:03 UT) the lander had sent back it’s “I’m here!” message. Now, the images and data will follow!  Stay tuned!

It appears that the landing was very soft and gentle. The anchors did not shoot into the surface, yet but it’s possible the landing feet screws have deployed. Engineers are considering reshooting the anchors after assessing the situation.

Philae as spotted by the OSIRIS camera after it left Rosetta. Courtesy ESA/Rosetta mission.
Philae as spotted by the OSIRIS camera after it left Rosetta. Courtesy ESA/Rosetta mission.

So, stay tuned!  Hopefully images will be coming soon!

Note: you can follow the mission here at ESA when they have updates and images to report.

 

 

 

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