Scientists stop calling out to comet lander as hope fades

European scientists have given up hopes to regain contact with space probe Philae lander.

Philae last phoned home on July 9 previous year as the comet closed in on its closest and most sunbathed point, or perihelion, reached on August 13.

While Philae did not have as much time as initially hoped after landing for experiments, information it has collected is reshaping thinking about comets, and it has been a useful lesson for designing future missions.

In the 64 hours following its separation from Rosetta, Philae took detailed images of the comet from above and on the surface, sniffed out organic compounds, and profiled the local environment and surface properties of the comet, providing revolutionary insights into this fascinating world. European scientists said Friday Feb. 12, 2016 they have stopped sending commands to the Philae space probe, which became the first to touch down on a comet more than a year ago.

“We would be very surprised to hear from Philae again after so long, but we will keep Rosetta’s listening channel on until it is no longer possible due to power constraints as we move ever further from the Sun towards the end of the mission”, said Patrick Martin, ESA’s Rosetta mission manager.

Attempts to send commands “in the blind” to trigger a response from Philae have also not produced any results.

“… we can’t prove anything, but certainly the suggestion is that the lander is either dead or broken”, European Space Agency (ESA) senior science adviser Mark McCaughrean told AFP.

The absence of a signal does in itself not prove the lander is dead, as it may simply be unable to make contact with Rosetta. The probe first bounced nearly a kilometer before settling in the comet’s shade at a odd angle. “After seven months or so without, I think the general consensus is that it’s over”.

The DLR, host of the Philae control centre, said the probe was “probably” covered with comet dust, and shaded from the Sun’s battery-replenishing rays on the surface of its alien home.

The project team believes that Philae is likely ice-free, but dust means the solar panels that recharge its batteries are unlikely to work.

The Philae lander arrived on the surface of Comet 67P in November 2014, and has since given operators on Earth quite a bit of trouble.

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