Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Efforts to discover the exact location of the Rosetta mission’s Philae lander have proven unsuccessful, and European Space Agency scientists fear that the probe might have become covered by dust falling back onto the surface of the comet it currently calls home.
Philae, which successfully landed on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) last November, bounced twice before finally coming to rest in an unknown location. The lander was able to return a collection of data before shutting down after its battery ran out of power, leaving ESA personnel to try to hunt for the proverbial needle-in-a-haystack.
According to BBC News, researchers believe they have a fairly good idea as to where the probe should be, but attempts to pinpoint its exact location have not been fruitful. Most recently, their attempts to use instruments on the Rosetta orbiter to locate Philae revealed no trace of it.
Pictures that Philae took of its surroundings before it entered idle mode revealed that it came to rest in a dark ditch, which limited its sunlight and kept its battery from adequately charging. The ESA believed that it is located near the “head” of the duck-shaped 67P/C-G, the BBC said.
“The orbiting Rosetta satellite photographed this general location on 12, 13 and 14 December, with each image then scanned by eye for any bright pixels that might be Philae,” the British news organization added. However, “no positive detection was made” during those scans.
The ESA fears that the lander is completely obscured by the overhanging cliff face depicted in its early photographs, the Daily Mail said. Furthermore, dust kicked up by the actual landing and the comet’s own movement could have fallen back to the surface, covering Philae in the process.
“Even if they cannot locate it, scientists are confident the little probe will eventually make its whereabouts known,” BBC News said. “As 67P moves closer to the Sun, lighting conditions for the robot should improve, allowing its solar cells to recharge the battery system.”
Rosetta mission scientists previously indicated that Philae could wake up as early as February, but more realistically it will remain idle until after Easter. Officials said that they are hopeful that communications with the probe could be re-established by May or June, and that Philae will be able to distribute enough power to its instruments to fully resume operations by September.
“The lighting conditions on the comet will only change gradually as it moves closer to the sun,” professor John Zarnecki, a planetary scientist at the Open University, the chair of the ESA’s Solar System Exploration Working Group and a member of the Rosetta mission team, told the Daily Mail on Monday.
“If Philae is indeed under a cliff as we suspect, then the lighting conditions will have to be right before we can see it,” he added. “Dust settling on the lander could not only make it harder to spot but may also pose a problem for powering Philae back up as it gets closer to the sun by stopping the solar panels from working properly.”
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