Friday, November 14, 2014

Rosetta: Battery will limit life of Philae comet lander Pt1

The lander bounced twice, initially about 1km back out into space, before settling in the shadow of a cliff, 1km from its intended target site.

It may now be problematic to get enough sunlight to charge its battery systems.

Launched in 2004, the European Space Agency (Esa) mission hopes to learn about the origins of our Solar System.

It has already sent back the first images ever taken from the crumbling, fractured terrain of a comet.
 
Pictures taken by Philae of its surroundings show it pressed up against what appears to be a hard wall of some kind.

Telemetry indicates it is on a slope or perhaps even on its side.

Certainly, one of its three feet is not in contact with the surface.

The key issue vexing controllers right now is the lighting condition

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