Comet lander Philae wakes up after seven-month hibernation

WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- Philae, the Rosetta mission's lander on Comet 67P, awakened and communicated with the European Space Agency Saturday, after hybernating since November.

It took 10 years for Rosetta to reach the comet and send Philae -- first spacecraft to land on a comet -- down to 67P. Philae ran out of battery and slipped into hibernation 60 hours after landing because it touched down next to a cliff that blocked it solar cells from sunlight.

"For 85 seconds Philae 'spoke' with its team on ground, via Rosetta, in the first contact since going into hibernation in November," ESA said in its official blog. Philae, designed to analyze ice and rock samples from the comet, delivered more than 300 data packets.

"Now the scientists are waiting for the next contact. There are still more than 8000 data packets in Philae's mass memory," the ESA said. Drilling into the comet to examine its chemical attributes is one of the agency's main goals.

The comet, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, is about 190 million miles away from Earth. The Rosetta orbiter had communications turned on since March 12 to listen in case Philae awoke.

"Philae is doing very well: It has an operating temperature of -35ºC and has 24 Watts available," Philae Project Manager Dr. Stephan Ulamec said. "The lander is ready for operations."

Incredible news! My lander Philae is awake! http://t.co/VtzAQHx4zT pic.twitter.com/SZqnsnNpUZ

— ESA Rosetta Mission (@ESA_Rosetta) June 14, 2015