It seems just a piece of rock, but there, hidden in the side, is the apparatus that made history. Less than a month of completing its mission, the Rosetta spacecraft captured an image of his Philae robot perched on a dark crack in the surface of comet 67P, announced Monday the European Space Agency (ESA).
2.7 km away in their approach to the comet, the high resolution camera Rosetta Osiris managed to locate Philae, which gave no signs of life since June 2015.
” I can hardly believe what I see with my own eyes Osiris! Finally conseguií this image of Philae, on September 2, 2.7 km away from 67P “,” he tweeted “Rosetta
After 10 years of traveling as a passenger of the probe Rosetta , Philae had achieved a milestone when landing on comet 67P Churiumov-Gerasimenko on 12 November 2014. However, the maneuver was too abrupt and Philae bounced twice on the surface before being immobilized on the celestial body, so . uneven and about 4 kilometers in diameter
See also: Another feat in space: Rosetta approached as never the Sun
the unexpected made Philae quedase perched on a hilly area and low exposure to sunlight. So the robot exhausted his batteries by sending Rosetta the result of 60 hours of observations and then fell “asleep”.
In June 2015 reawakened, but since 9 July that year showed no signs of life. More than a year later, Rosetta is about to end his time to his mission, also landing on the comet on September 30
See also:. The Rosetta probe cuts communication with the space robot Philae
the image obtained in this final approach “shows the orientation of Philae, explaining why establish communications were so difficult,” said ESA.
” with just one month to the end of the Rosetta mission, we are pleased to have located Philae and be able to observe many details, “said Cecilia Tubiana, a member of the team that monitors the work Osiris chamber and the first person to notice the presence of inert robot images received on Sunday ESA. “We were beginning to think Philae would be lost forever. It’s amazing that we caught at the last moment, “said Patrick Martin, head of mission of the space agency.
The comet is currently away from the Sun and will continue in its elliptical orbit to about 850 million kilometers away. Before landing on the comet, Rosetta will continue to take high-resolution images in real time and make scientific measurements.
Scientists on Earth have the opportunity to gather more data than just a close encounter can provide. Once in contact with the surface of the comet cease communications and operations Rosetta
See also:. How the mission Rosetta the encounter with the comet will end an adventure unprecedented in the history of space conquest, which provided data can improve our understanding of the emergence of life on Earth. Projected over 20 years ago, the mission sought to better understand the solar system from birth, as it is considered that comets are remnants of its original matter.
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