BERLIN (EFE) .- The Philae module which made history by landing on Comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko after separating from the Rosetta probe, no contact has returned to Earth since Thursday last September and scientists fear that the robot has been moved and their antennae are blocked.
As explained yesterday the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which decrypts the information sent Philae, they are testing different commands to optimize module functions .
“In the telemetry received have seen signs that Philae has been able to move, so that their antennae are perhaps more hidden or orientation has changed,” says the project manager, Stephan Ulamec.
The last data sent by the module indicated that its panels were getting lots of sunlight and have sufficient energy to operate, but the pattern clearly changed between June and July and can not be explained by the stations in the planet.
Ulamec recalls that the arrival of Philae at 67P on 12 November, a milestone for the European Space Agency, was not simple, because it ended up landing on a dark, rocky area, after three landings and two rebounds. I finally stopped at the edge of a crater and on uneven ground, with his movement, perhaps pushed by the gases released on the surface of the planet, has obstructed their antennae.
Another hypothesis is that a his two radiorreceptoras units suffered some sort of damage and one of the drive units does not work well.
Philae is scheduled to turn alternately and periodically their transmitters, so these faults could explain that Communication is so irregular. To verify this hypothesis have been sent to the module “blind commands” from which no response is expected, and that aim to Philae select only the operating transmitter.
“The module is still operating because we sends data, albeit at irregular intervals and surprising moments, “says Ulamec, who recognizes that on occasion have feared that no more contacts.
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