Scientists
are awaiting news from the Rosetta comet mission, its Philae module landed on
the surface of comet 67P. Early data suggested the probe may have hit a snag,
although the situation has been declared stable.
With
communications severed as the "mothership" Rosetta spent a period of
its orbit on the far side of the comet from Earth, information was limited
about the degree of success of Philae's landing.
Mission
chiefs based in the German city of Darmstadt said the European Space Agency
(ESA) lander, Philae, failed to anchor to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko,
after landing on Wednesday. However, the probe still managed to send back some
scientific information and was declared to be in a "stable" situation
on Thursday.
The
100-kilogram (22 lb) module appears to have landed on a soft surface, but it is
feared that it is not anchored. The harpoons that Philae had been due to fire
to secure itself did not deploy successfully.
I’m on the surface but my harpoons did not fire. My team is hard at work now trying to determine why. #CometLanding
— Philae Lander (@Philae2014) November 12, 2014
It is
believed that the probe touched down largely as planned, except that it may
have bounced once off the surface before coming to rest. "Hopefully, we
are sitting there on the surface at a position different to the original
landing and can continue our science," landing manager Stefan Ulamec said
after Philae's descent.
Rosetta,
which carried Philae on a journey of some 6.5 billion kilometers (4 billion
miles) was launched into space on 2004 and took over a decade to reach its
target - comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko - "Chury" or "67P"
for short. It arrived in August, having been propelled to its destination by
using the gravitational pull of both the Earth and Mars as a slingshot.
The probe
is equipped with 10 instruments that will examine the chemistry and structure
of the 67P, drilling into the comet's surface. It is hoped that the information
gleaned might provide scientists with a greater understanding of the origins of
the solar system.
Comets are
thought to be clusters of ice and carbon dust left over from the formation of
the solar system.
One theory
is that comets may have seeded the Earth with water and the necessary carbon
molecules for life to evolve some 4.6 billion years ago.
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