Philae lander goes silent away from battery-charging sunlight

DARMSTADT, Germany, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- The pioneering lander that made history and gained worldwide notoriety by landing on a comet some 300 million miles away has stopped working -- at least for now.

The Rosetta spacecraft's Philae lander set itself down aboard comet 67P right on target but bounced off the ground a few times and landed in a spot where its solar panels aren't getting enough sunlight.

According to the European Space Agency, all systems on Philae have shut down for a "possibly long silence."

"Prior to falling silent, the lander was able to transmit all science data gathered during the First Science Sequence," said Stephan Ulamec from the European Space Operations Center.

"Despite the unplanned series of three touchdowns, all of our instruments could be operated and now it's time to see what we've got."

Expected in the information being analyzed from Philae are results from its attempt to drill down into the surface of the comet. The lander used its ROLIS, COSAC, Ptolemy, SD2 and CONSERT instruments to gather data, which could reveal the comet's inner structure.

Though currently out of contact with mission control in Darmstadt, Germany, scientists hope to be able to position the lander in better sunlight so its batteries will at least partially recharge, allowing it to once again communicate with the ground team.

An initial attempt to do that on Saturday failed, but Ulamec thinks that as the comet flies closer to the sun, more sunlight may be able to reach the lander in order to give its batteries a boost.

"We still hope that at a later stage of the mission, perhaps when we are nearer to the Sun, that we might have enough solar illumination to wake up the lander and re-establish communication," Ulamec said.

The Rosetta spacecraft carrying Philae was launched ten years ago and traveled more than six billion miles before its August rendezvous with comet 67P. Philae touched down on the comet's surface on Wednesday.