Philae comet lander officially dead

Scientists have glumly concluded that the Philae lander on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is almost certainly dead, and have given up trying to contact the spacecraft. Boffins have been trying to re-establish communications with the lander since July last year, when sporadic transmissions from the comet's surface were cut. …

[2460 Something]

RIP little lander.

Massive kudos to the team for getting it there in the first place.

[MyffyW]

I had worried that we were in an age where space exploration had lost its sparkle. But only this morning my daughter told me excitedly everything she'd learnt about the solar system from her smartphone.

Just before dashing out to get the train we pinched and zoomed across Phobos, Europa, Titan and Enceladus.

Well done to all concerned on this latest mission.

[PleebSmasher]

We hardlae knew yae

[Peter Simpson 1]

...and the NEXT one will be BETTER!

[Beachrider]

This comet circles every 6.5 years, no?

Why crash Rosetta and give up on Philae? It is not as if it will be really long before they get close to the sun again...

[imanidiot]

Re: This comet circles every 6.5 years, no?

The batteries and electrical systems are not designed to survive 6 years without recharging and heating. By the time the comet swings around they'll most likely be dead as a doornail.

[WraithCadmus]

Congratulations to all involved

It's easy to do well when things go perfectly to plan, having the foresight to add the redundancies and the insight to get the most out of the mission when thing went astray is sterling work.

[Ugotta B. Kiddingme]

"would be very surprising if we were to receive a signal again."

"Getting cold. Please send blankets."

Silliness aside, this mission can only be regarded as smashing success. Even though they didn't achieve all hoped for and the landing didn't go as planned, the mere fact that they got there at all is deserving of many pints and claps on the back. Many thanks to the scientists, engineers, and others of various disciplines who made this happen. Well done one and all.

[DanceMan]

Re: "smashing success"

I see what you did there.

[Dan Wilkie]

I bet they rock at Kerbal Space Program...

Funnily enough my harpoons always fail to get a grip, I've usually fitted them backwards, or they're obstructed by the landing legs, or they fell off.

In all seriousness though, we live in a culture obsessed with pointing out failings, I think that despite a number of technical hurdles, and unplanned dis assemblies, the team have done an amazing job and managed to drag far more success than I thought they ever would from it.

[Kleykenb]

Zombi

Some day someone will direct their version of the Millenium Falcon towards it and pick it up, only to sell it further on the black market to some dodgy spacejunk collector nameed D'horku, who will then turn it into a dune buggy.

[Chris King]

Ambition...

"We fall, we pick ourselves up again and we adapt."

Goodnight Philae, and thanks for all the science.

[Anonymous Coward]

Kudos

Yep, it was a noble attempt and nice try. The entire effort brought humanity up close and personal with a very mysterious space rock. I challenge anyone to enlarge the latest picture, pour over it in minute detail for an hour and not come away having thought at least once that it might have been manufactured somehow. At the very least, the mind will be boggled on how it could have come to possess the myriad features that it does. My anthropomorphism kicked in very quickly and it became difficult to un-see the obvious dinosaur-like animal it seems to represent. And, seriously, what are those jutting appendages on the main body just across from the end of the "chin"? The whole rock is a serious case of WTF?

[Trollslayer]

Dare to dream

Dare to make the dream real.

[Stuart 22]

Oh come on - you don't really believe humanity really could and would land a washing machine on a far distant comet? Nay, the props man at Paramount wiped out the transmitter trying to clean up Matt Taylor's shirt with three rinses and a high speed spin.

http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/54639ec3eab8ea0e3fa12575/rosetta-scientist-pisses-off-twitter-with-a-shirt-covered-in-half-naked-women.jpg

(Look behind for proof Philly's fake studio set really exists)

[Anonymous Coward]

Congrats to the Philae team!

Still a great mission, and if I am ever out in the Asteroid belt and in need of spare electronic components, now I know where to look!

[Trevor Gale]

The science of beauty and humanity combined

This project is a beautiful example of what can be achieved with the combined efforts of so many people from various companies and disciplines working constructively together in detail for such a long period.

It's actual journey began in 2004 with the launch, but although not so prevalent in the media for us to read much of the work was really put in way before this, with the original planning and assignment of different parts of the project, with the design of the instruments and the flight platform, the matching for and the organisation of the launch, setting up of global cooperation, the extremely tough pre-launch testing and more. So many people from various institutions and different companies with contracts working together under the umbrella of ESA to realise the final craft ready for launch.

So there it was back in 2004, some 1200kg plus around 1700kg of fuel for its journey - and little Philae at just 100kg incorporating 10 scientific sensors and instruments - and that journey had to go right on track for over a DECADE to arrive near the target comet, with all the risks and unknowns on the way.

Then to top all of that, to let off Philae to land on that comet from an altitude of 22km - through all sorts of 'nasty stuff' that the spinning comet might be throwing off, with virtually no steering(!), aiming for a carefully spot to make for a landing that could be survived intact ... yes, it all came together!

The scientific returns and the images that were sent together are so revealing, allowing a degree of understanding while giving rise to a few more questions: such is the nature of the best of human exploration.

I do sincerely hope that some of these results, these puzzles, these images, cause more younger people to follow an education which leads them into various fields which can contribute further to human discovery and exploration - it is knowledge and understanding (of all sorts) which enables the development of a better life for all human kind.

[Joerg]

They started the real military mission. They can't let anyone see anything now

They started the real military mission. They can't let anyone see anything now

So they just tell the world that the probe is dead.

Unfortunately the Earth population nowadays is in full zombies mode and practically no one understands even simple tactics.

[allthecoolshortnamesweretaken]

Re: They started the real military mission. They can't let anyone see anything now

Don't drink and post.

[Anonymous Coward]

@allthecool.... - Re: They started the real military mission. They can't let anyone see anything now

You said it brilliantly!

I had the honor to give you the first up-vote.

[Barbarian At the Gates]

Considering ridiculously hard all this is

It's amazing how many successes (or even partial successes) humankind have managed. Well done, ladies and gentlemen, well done indeed!

[PNGuinn]

The greatest tradegy of all this ....

If only those harpoons had worked and they had been able to nail it to its perch ...

Then I'd have been able to post "It's not dead - it's just restin'".

But now I can't. Utter fail.

Luvverly plumage though ....

[Hud Dunlap]

Chances of communication 'close to zero'

So it's "a million to one chance"? Keep trying then. It is a dead cert it will come back to life!

[CrazyOldCatMan]

They'll know..

.. whether it's undead if the last thing that Rosetta sees is Philae shuffling towards it broadcasting "electoniczzz" across all the spectrum..