A probe that landed on a comet in a first for space exploration has ended up in the shadow of a cliff, about 1km from its intended resting place, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Thursday.
The lander, Philae, was released from its mothership Rosetta on Wednesday as it orbited comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, in the climax of a 10-year mission for the ESA, but harpoons meant to anchor it to the surface failed to deploy and it bounced twice, before floating to rest two hours later.
The ESA needs to analyze data beamed 500 million kilometers back to Earth to pinpoint its location.
Photo: EPA
“Where we are is not entirely where we wanted to be,” lead lander scientist Jean-Pierre Biebring told a press conference.
The ESA has published pictures of the comet and images of the 100kg lander — virtually weightless on the comet’s rocky surface — and said it was operating normally.
“Do not put the emphasis on the failures of the system, it is gorgeous where we are now,” Biebring said.
In the shadows, Philae’s solar panels, which were meant to power the probe when its batteries were due to run out yesterday, get only an hour and a half of sunlight a day, instead of the expected six to seven hours.
The probe could try to use its landing gear to hop out of the shadows, but the ESA will need to know more about exactly where it is before attempting the risky maneuver, scientists at the ESA operations center in Darmstadt, Germany, said.
The lander also appears to have only two of its three feet on the ground, raising questions about whether it can drill without tipping over or pushing itself off into space.
Scientists hope that samples drilled from the comet by Philae will unlock details about how the solar system — and possibly even life — evolved. The rock and ice that make up comets preserve ancient organic molecules like a time capsule.
Comets date back to the formation of the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists suspect comets delivered water to Earth when they collided with the planet.
The ESA said even without the drill, the Rosetta mission — which cost about 1.4 billion euros (US$1.7 billion) — was relaying groundbreaking data and images.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in