The European Philae lander has renewed contact with Earth at a distance of more than three hundred million kilometers. Another in the last week of the Americans picked up the signal and transmit a good message to mission control center in Darmstadt, Germany.
The ESA lander lost contact with for seven months. The unit was back to life.
The lander Philae landing on the comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko November 12 last year. Darkening the landing site caused the device worked only 60 hours of battery backup – has not been able to charge the batteries sunlight. The person skilled in the ESA speculated that the Philae may return to life when it reaches the glow of our star.
The lander woke up from hibernation a week ago and twice merged with the Earth. They were short, kilkudziesięciosekundowe transmissions.
Last Friday was the third “talk” and lasted until four minutes.
The signal is getting stronger. The engineering team working on the Rosetta mission hopes that you will be getting better. To Philae could again explore the surface of comets, the Earth must have a connection with lasting tens of minutes.
The ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft moved closer to the comet that this had better contact with their lander. The maneuver was risky, but successful. The connection is now more stable.
The new transmission confirms that Philae is in good condition. It receives more and more light, and soon will be able to recharge the batteries and also work during the night.
(ew / IAR / PopSci)
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