The ESA's comet lander Philae is probably dead.

Philae arrived at the surface of comet 67P, (also known as Churyumov-Gerasimenko) in 2014 - delivered there by ESA's Rosetta probe.

Philae and Rosetta communicated for 57 hours after-which Philae became sporadic and finally silent.


ESA has sent a "last-ditch" message to the lander in hopes of triggering a response-the bad news is that it seems to have failed.

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Philae Lander Phones Home Again

 The European lander Philae has once again contacted Earth after more than two weeks of silence.

Philae now on the surface of  Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko once again sent data to its Rosetta mothership.

Philae has had a rough start to its' cometary exploration mission. When it arrived at comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, aboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, drift off course for two hours before a rough landing in a shadier spot. This ment less power to its solar panels which may explain why Philae went quiet for months.  

It wasn't until the comet drew closer to the sun that Philae chould get in touch with Rosetta on June 13, then falling silent once more on June 24.  However, a transmission on July 9 confirmed Philae was working.

The lander is now ready for work 186 million miles from Earth as the comet makes its closest approach to the sun.

Philae Lands on Comet Comet 67P

After a heart stopping seven-hour descent, the ESA Philae space-craft has indeed made history by being the first spacecraft ever to land softly on a comet. 

Philae's mother-ship - the Rosetta orbiter, transmitted the signal confirming the successful touchdown.  

Rosetta was launched on 2 March 2004 and traveled over 4 billion miles through the Solar System before arriving at the comet on 6 August 2014.

The landing site, named Agilkia and is located on the head of the bizarre double-lobed object.  Soon after Rosetta arrived, it began taking photos from apx, 20 miles to as far away as 60 miles looking for a possible landing site. 

From the Rosetta / ESA web site: 

• Those first images soon revealed the comet as a world littered with boulders, towering cliffs and daunting precipices and pits, with jets of gas and dust streaming from the surface. 

Philae was release at a distance of 15 miles and it made its decent, without propulsion or guidance.   

From the Rosetta / ESA web site: 

Over the next 2.5 days, the lander will conduct its primary science mission, assuming that its main battery remains in good health. An extended science phase using the rechargeable secondary battery may be possible, assuming Sun illumination conditions allow and dust settling on the solar panels does not prevent it. This extended phase could last until March 2015, after which conditions inside the lander are expected to be too hot for it to continue operating.

Philae's Wikipedia site  

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Philae's Landing Site Now Has a Name

The science spacecraft Rosetta's lander, designated Philae is due to land on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko November 12.  Up until recently the landing site was simply known as 'J'.  

The Philae steering committee, along with other agencies involved with the ESA Rosetta probe, asked the public for suggestions.  The name was finally narrowed down to Agilkia.  

Rosetta will release Philae on November 12 at a distance of 14 miles  from the center of the comet, with a scheduled landing about seven hours later at Agilkia.

Check out the complete article on Astronomy  HERE