ROSETTA NEWS: THE SEARCH FOR PHILAE
by Hazed
Ever since the Philae lander touched down – or rather, bounced down – onto comet 67P, the Euroean Space Agency has been trying to figure out exactly where it fetched up.
They recently released some images that show the way it descended to the comet’s surface, spinning and tumbling as it went, and the site where they think it finally came to rest (see the first of the source links below).
Philae is about 1 metre across, so trying to spot it in pictures taken from the Rosetta craft from a distance of about 18 to 28 km from the surface is not easy. At the scale of the pictures released, the lander wold take up about three pixels so it would be very easy to confuse it with a boulder.
Even if they never find Philae, it will still be possible to operate it, provided it wakes up as the comet moves closer to the sun. If Philae is where they think it is, then by May it’ll be in direct sunlight which should allow it to awaken.
Meanwhile, another spectacular image taken last November shows the comet with its plumes of gas and dust that form the tail (see the second link). As the comet gets closer to the sun, this tail will intensify.
Source: http://space.io9.com/where-is-philae-and-when-will-it-wake-up-1682810814/+riamisra
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150203.html
