Comet-invader Philae goes silent, mothership Rosetta forced to retreat

The European Space Agency (ESA) has all but lost contact with its Philae lander on Comet 67P – and attempts to reestablish communications are being hampered by the rock itself. Philae, which was dropped off onto the comet from its mothership Rosetta, has more or less been silent for 11 days. Rosetta, which still orbits Comet …

[Ugotta B. Kiddingme]

"has more or less been silent for days"

and "is obviously still functional, because it sends us data, even if it does so at irregular intervals and at surprising times."

So, then... rather like Mrs. Kiddingme when I've done something she considers stupid and/or annoying?

[Mark 85]

Re: "has more or less been silent for days"

On the bright side, that means that it hasn't been blown off into the void by the gas releases nor has it fallen into a hole that suddenly opened. But it could be the Clangers are having fun with us... covering the antenna, even moving Philae itself about the area to confuse things.

[Little Mouse]

This won't qualify for "Best Soap" at the next BAFTAs.

But it should.

[W Donelson]

Still a Triumph of space engineering and bravado!

[Pascal Monett]

Fuckin' A !

[Anonymous Coward]

Was it ever planned to be operating this close to the Sun?

The reason comets have a tail is the reason that solar panels probably wouldn't be very effective to power something sitting on a comet. Once it is close enough to begin acquiring a tail I wouldn't think the solar panels would be generating enough power anymore. It might last a bit longer if it was sitting where intended, but not once there was a full blown tail.

[Annihilator]

Re: Was it ever planned to be operating this close to the Sun?

Not sure I understand this one? The "tail" is indicative of there being more solar energy collected, surely you'd expect (as the team have) that the closer to the sun, the more energy the lander gets - it's why it came back to life in the first place.

The comet's orbit is outside of Earth's, so it's not like it will be completely burning up. Although it's possible the lander will shift due to the changes on the comet surface as its ice begins to melt and break up.

[MysticMuse]

Re: Was it ever planned to be operating this close to the Sun?

Where was the ice again? I don't see any ice, there is no evidence that there is ice. They assume that there is ice due to hydroxyl ions that may or may not be formed by sublimation. In fact every piece of evidence about comets suggest that there is no ice on them at all. The best sample we found from comets was metamorphic silicate minerals, no ice, hence why the ice harpoons didn't work.

[Cornrat]

Reaction to action

I'm not surprised that the harpoons re-launched Philae from the comet's surface; better, surely, to have had upward-facing (away from comet) cylinders (containing compressed hydrogen) attached to the landing struts. On landing, valves would open allowing the gas to be released, thereby ensuring that Philae remained on the comet's surface.

[seven of five]

Obvious solution:

Obviously, there is only one possible course of action: We´ll have to send another lander which picks Philae up and returns it to earth so we can fetch the drive.

Simples.