Comet lander wakes up to resume mission

Philae, the first spacecraft to land on a comet, has contacted Earth for the first time in seven months. The probe went quiet three days after touching down on the surface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

1 Mar 2, 2004: Rosetta launched

2 Jun 2011: After four flybys of Earth and Mars, Rosetta is put into hibernation to save energy

3 Jan 20, 2014: Rosetta wakes up

4 Aug 6: Rendezvous with comet

5 Nov 12: Philae released from mother ship but bounces twice as harpoons fail to attach. Probe ends up in shadow of cliff

Nov 15: Solar-powered battery runs flat after 60 hours

6 Jun 13, 2015: Philae contacts Earth via Rosetta after increasing sunlight repowers battery

7 Aug 2015: Comet at closest point to Sun, at 186 million km

8 Dec 2015: Nominal end of mission

Jun 2015: Comet, Philae and Rosetta at 305m km from Earth

Nov 12: Touchdown

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Mars

Earth

Rosetta orbit

Comet 67P orbit

COMET 67P: As it warms up, ices melt, causing it to spew out gas and dust

Scientists hope PhilaeÕs solar panels will provide enough power for probe to run full range of experiments analysing cometÕs chemistry 

PHILAE LANDER

Philae landed on ÒheadÓ of duck-shaped comet

Drill to extract samples into onboard laboratory

Source: ESA

Pictures: ESA/Rosetta/NavCam

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