Philae | EarthSky

Philae comet lander … found!

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Space | 4 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

With only a month left of the Rosetta mission, the Philae comet lander has been found wedged into a dark crack on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

What the Philae comet lander found

Posted by EarthSky Voices in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by EarthSky Voices

Philae data suggest that organic compounds – which eventually translated into living organisms here on Earth – existed in the early solar system.

Philae comet lander falls silent

Posted by EarthSky Voices in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by EarthSky Voices

The Rosetta team is hoping that a software patch will help re-establish reliable contact with the little Philae lander, lodged somewhere on the comet’s surface.

Rosetta team struggles with Philae link

Posted by EarthSky Voices in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by EarthSky Voices

Since the Philae comet lander renewed contact on June 13, the Rosetta mission team has struggled to establish a stable link.

Philae comet lander is awake!

Posted by Eleanor Imster in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Eleanor Imster

Seven months after it lost contact with Earth, the Rosetta mission’s Philae lander hibernating on comet 67P has woken up and tweeted, “Hello Earth!”

Absolutely awesome images of comet lander Philae

Posted by Andrew R. Brown in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Andrew R. Brown

ESA hopes communications with the Philae comet lander can be regained by May or June. Wait you’re waiting, check out these stunning newly released images!

Thud of Philae landing on comet

Posted by Eleanor Imster in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Eleanor Imster

Take 2 seconds to listen to a sound made 311 million miles away.

Rosetta spots Philae’s bounce across the comet

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

Never-before-seen images of a bouncy comet landing! Shows Philae lander attempting to touch down in the weak gravity field of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Philae lander completes its main mission, then falls silent

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

The first-ever comet lander – Philae – made history this week by spending some 57 hours gathering data on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

Rosetta mission places Philae lander on its comet

Posted by Deborah Byrd and Andrew R. Brown in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd and Andrew R. Brown

As of Thursday morning, November 13 – after initially failing to attach to the surface – Philae is now stable and is sending back pictures.

As Philae detached from its mothership, an eerie comet song

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

Listen in on a mysterious sound produced by Rosetta’s comet. ESA says the comet song is due to “oscillations in the magnetic field in the comet’s environment.”

Five finalists for Philae landing site on Rosetta’s comet

Posted by Andrew R. Brown in Science Wire | Space | 7 years ago

Posted by Andrew R. Brown

Five finalists named as potential landing sites this November for Philae lander in ESA’s fabulous Rosetta comet mission. Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, here we come.

Sideways snowman shape on a black background.

Why does Arrokoth look like a snowman?

Posted by EarthSky Voices in Space | 1 year ago

Posted by EarthSky Voices

Meet Arrokoth – the most distant object yet visited by earthlings – seen by the New Horizons spacecraft in early 2019. It’s very old, one of the first generation of objects in our solar system. Here’s why it looks like a snowman.

Comet 67P, with multiple dust jets spewing from it.

One comet, 70 thousand images

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Space | 2 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

Scientists released the OSIRIS Image Viewer to make the amazing images of comet 67P – acquired by the Rosetta spacecraft – easily accessible on the internet.

Rosetta spacecraft image archive complete

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Space | 3 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

Rosetta journeyed through space for 12 years and performed early flybys of Earth, Mars and 2 asteroids before arriving at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It produced nearly 100,000 images. Some of the best, here.

A rare chance to scrutinize a comet’s jet

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Space | 3 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

On July 3, 2016 – as Comet 67P erupted with a plume of dust – the orbiting Rosetta spacecraft happened to pass right through the dust cloud.

This asteroid and comet look similar

Posted by Eddie Irizarry in Human World | Space | 4 years ago

Posted by Eddie Irizarry

Radar images of close-passing large asteroid 2014 JO25, which swept near last week, show it looks a lot like Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, which was explored by the Rosetta spacecraft.

Farewell, Rosetta comet mission

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Space | 4 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

ESA’s great Rosetta comet mission has come to an end. Details from its final hour, here.

Rosetta spacecraft selfie with comet

Posted by Andrew R. Brown in Today's Image | 4 years ago

Posted by Andrew R. Brown

An otherworldly take on an earthly trend, as Rosetta posed with its comet, 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, in 2014.

Comet lander faces eternal hibernation

Posted by Eleanor Imster in Science Wire | Space | 5 years ago

Posted by Eleanor Imster

Scientists have given up hope of re-establishing contact with Rosetta’s comet lander, now sitting silent and dark on the comet’s surface. R.I.P. Philae!

Ceres blurs line between comets and asteroids

Posted by EarthSky Voices in Science Wire | Space | 5 years ago

Posted by EarthSky Voices

New discoveries about Ceres’ mysterious bright spots suggest that a strict division between comets and asteroids is no longer realistic.

Are those sinkholes on Rosetta’s comet?

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

Sinkholes on Earth happen when a subsurface cavern collapses. On the comet, the caverns may be created by ices turning to gas, as the comet nears the sun.

LightSail phones home after 8-day silence

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye said, “LightSail called home! It’s alive! Our LightSail spacecraft has rebooted itself, just as our engineers predicted.”

Crescent comet

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Today's Image | 6 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

The co-orbit around the sun of the Rosetta spacecraft and Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko lets the spacecraft see the comet, at times, in a crescent phase.

Why comets are like deep fried ice cream

Posted by EarthSky in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by EarthSky

Astronomers tinkering with ice and organics in the lab might have discovered why icy comets have hard, outer crusts.

The intriguing crack in Rosetta’s comet, and more

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

Scientists publish a slew of science results from the Rosetta comet mission. Among the most fascinating … a crack in the comet’s neck! Plus dust and jets, the mysterious double-lobed shape, and more.

Seasons are changing on Rosetta’s comet

Posted by Andrew R. Brown in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Andrew R. Brown

Two photos from the Rosetta spacecraft – one from last November, and one from a few days ago – show a comet’s seasons changing.

We’ve landed on a comet!

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Today's Image | 6 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

New images from the Philae lander are expected on Thursday, November 14. In the meantime, despite challenges … a cause for celebration for all humanity.

Watch today’s comet landing live online

Posted by Eleanor Imster in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Eleanor Imster

NASA and ESA will provide live online coverage of the November 12 Rosetta mission’s scheduled landing of a probe on a comet. Here’s how to watch.

Three cool images of a comet’s night side

Posted by Deborah Byrd and Andrew R. Brown in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd and Andrew R. Brown

The dayside images of Rosetta’s comet have been fantastic. Now, thanks to backscatter of sunlight from the comet’s coma, we’re seeing amazing nightside images.

Dramatic attempt to land on a comet coming Wednesday

Posted by EarthSky in Human World | Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by EarthSky

Rosetta spacecraft will do the equivalent of transferring an object from one speeding bullet to another, when it tries to place its Philae lander on its comet.

Video: How to land on a comet

Posted by Eleanor Imster in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Eleanor Imster

On November 12, the Rosetta spacecraft will attempt something “ridiculously difficult:” landing a probe on the surface of a speeding comet.

Exciting Rosetta space mission inspires a magical short film

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Human World | Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

A very good 7-minute film, called Ambition. It’s not like any film about space exploration you’ve ever seen. The Rosetta comet mission lies at its heart.

ESA announces landing site on Rosetta’s comet

Posted by Andrew R. Brown in Science Wire | Space | 6 years ago

Posted by Andrew R. Brown

Rosetta spacecraft has been moving in tandem with its comet since August. On Monday, ESA announced the site of a November landing.

Video: Rosetta’s race to map its comet

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Science Wire | Space | 7 years ago

Posted by Deborah Byrd

Last week, Rosetta became the first spacecraft ever to rendezvous with a comet. Now the spacecraft is in a race against time. Rosetta’s next challenges, here.