Comet-chasing probe wakes up, calls home

Michael Pearson and Matt Smith, CNN
3 minute read
Updated 11:20 AM EST, Wed January 22, 2014
The Rosetta probe sent an unexpected final image back to Earth shortly before it made a controlled impact onto the surface of Comet 67P last September.
The Rosetta probe sent an unexpected final image back to Earth shortly before it made a controlled impact onto the surface of Comet 67P last September.
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team
The Rosetta spacecraft's high-resolution camera took this image of the Philae lander on September 2, 2016. The lander is wedged into a dark crack on a comet, named 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko, hurtling through space. The discovery comes less than a month before the Rosetta mission's end.
Philae has been found! —
The Rosetta spacecraft's high-resolution camera took this image of the Philae lander on September 2, 2016. The lander is wedged into a dark crack on a comet, named 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko, hurtling through space. The discovery comes less than a month before the Rosetta mission's end.
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team
"We are so happy to have finally imaged Philae, and to see it in such amazing detail," says Cecilia Tubiana of the OSIRIS camera team. She was the first person to see the images when they were downlinked from the Rosetta probe, according to the European Space Agency.
Philae is wedged in a dark corner of Rosetta —
"We are so happy to have finally imaged Philae, and to see it in such amazing detail," says Cecilia Tubiana of the OSIRIS camera team. She was the first person to see the images when they were downlinked from the Rosetta probe, according to the European Space Agency.
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team
The image is detailed enough that viewers can pick out features of Philae's 3-foot-wide (1 meter) body. Even two of its three legs can be seen.
Philae found using images from Rosetta —
The image is detailed enough that viewers can pick out features of Philae's 3-foot-wide (1 meter) body. Even two of its three legs can be seen.
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team
One of the primary objectives of the Rosetta mission was to drop the Philae lander onto the comet. The probe was successfully deployed in November 2014, becoming the first probe to land on a comet. But Philae failed to grab onto the comet and bounced around. It fell silent a few days later. Then on June 13, 2015, <a href="http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2015/07/10/new-communication-with-philae-commands-executed-successfully/" target="_blank" target="_blank">Philae came out of hibernation</a> and "spoke" to mission managers at the European Space Agency for 85 seconds. This photo above was taken by the lander's mothership, the Rosetta orbiter, after the lander started its descent to the comet.
One of the primary objectives of the Rosetta mission was to drop the Philae lander onto the comet. The probe was successfully deployed in November 2014, becoming the first probe to land on a comet. But Philae failed to grab onto the comet and bounced around. It fell silent a few days later. Then on June 13, 2015, Philae came out of hibernation and "spoke" to mission managers at the European Space Agency for 85 seconds. This photo above was taken by the lander's mothership, the Rosetta orbiter, after the lander started its descent to the comet.
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team
The Rosetta spacecraft captured this <a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Comet_s_firework_display_ahead_of_perihelion" target="_blank" target="_blank">image of a jet of white debris</a> spraying from Comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko on July 29, 2015. Mission scientists said this was the brightest jet seen to date in the mission. The debris is <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Comets&Display=OverviewLong" target="_blank" target="_blank">mostly of ice</a> coated with dark organic material.
The Rosetta spacecraft captured this image of a jet of white debris spraying from Comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko on July 29, 2015. Mission scientists said this was the brightest jet seen to date in the mission. The debris is mostly of ice coated with dark organic material.
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by Rosetta on July 8, 2015 as the spacecraft and comet headed toward their closest approach to the sun. Rosetta was about 125 miles (201 kilometers) from the comet when it took this image.
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by Rosetta on July 8, 2015 as the spacecraft and comet headed toward their closest approach to the sun. Rosetta was about 125 miles (201 kilometers) from the comet when it took this image.
Rosetta/Navcam/ESA
Philae wakes up! Mission managers posted this cartoon of the lander yawning after it came out of hibernation on June 13, 2015. They also sent a series of tweets between the lander and its mothership, Rosetta.
Philae wakes up! Mission managers posted this cartoon of the lander yawning after it came out of hibernation on June 13, 2015. They also sent a series of tweets between the lander and its mothership, Rosetta.
ESA
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a Jupiter-family comet. Its 6.5 year journey around the Sun takes it from just beyond the orbit of Jupiter at its most distant, to between the orbits of Earth and Mars at its closest. The comet hails from the Kuiper Belt, but gravitational perturbations knocked it towards the Sun where interactions with Jupiter's gravity set it on its present-day orbit.
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a Jupiter-family comet. Its 6.5 year journey around the Sun takes it from just beyond the orbit of Jupiter at its most distant, to between the orbits of Earth and Mars at its closest. The comet hails from the Kuiper Belt, but gravitational perturbations knocked it towards the Sun where interactions with Jupiter's gravity set it on its present-day orbit.
Courtesy ESA
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by Rosetta on June 5, 2015, while the spacecraft was about 129 miles (208 kilometers) from the comet's center.
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by Rosetta on June 5, 2015, while the spacecraft was about 129 miles (208 kilometers) from the comet's center.
ESA/Rosetta/NavCam
Rosetta's navigation camera took this image of the comet on June 1, 2015.
Rosetta's navigation camera took this image of the comet on June 1, 2015.
ESA/Rosetta/NavCam
The Rosetta Mission is tracking Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on its orbit around the sun. This image was taken on May 3, 2015 at a distance of about 84 miles (135 km) from the comet's center.
The Rosetta Mission is tracking Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on its orbit around the sun. This image was taken on May 3, 2015 at a distance of about 84 miles (135 km) from the comet's center.
Courtesy ESA/Rosetta/NavCam -- CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken on April 15, 2015.
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken on April 15, 2015.
ESA/Rosetta/NavCam -- CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
Rosetta snapped this wide-angle view of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in September 2014. Rosetta was about 107 million miles (172 million kilometers) from Earth and about 92 million miles (148 million kilometers) from the sun when the photo was released.
Rosetta snapped this wide-angle view of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in September 2014. Rosetta was about 107 million miles (172 million kilometers) from Earth and about 92 million miles (148 million kilometers) from the sun when the photo was released.
ESA/Rosetta
A camera on Rosetta took this picture of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November 22, 2014, from a distance of about 19 miles (31 kilometers). The nucleus is deliberately overexposed to reveal jets of material spewing from the comet. The 2.5-mile-wide (4-kilometer) comet has shown a big increase in the amount of water its releasing, according to NASA. The space agency says about 40 ounces (1.2 liters) of water was being sprayed into space every second at the end of August 2014.
A camera on Rosetta took this picture of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November 22, 2014, from a distance of about 19 miles (31 kilometers). The nucleus is deliberately overexposed to reveal jets of material spewing from the comet. The 2.5-mile-wide (4-kilometer) comet has shown a big increase in the amount of water its releasing, according to NASA. The space agency says about 40 ounces (1.2 liters) of water was being sprayed into space every second at the end of August 2014.
ESA/Rosetta