Robot on comet suddenly revives after 7 months of signal loss

The Philae probe robot has suddenly reconnected with the European Space Agency (ESA) after 7 months of losing signal, bringing great excitement to scientists.

The last images of the Philae robot in November 2014. Photo: ESA

Last November, Philae landed on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and operated for 60 hours, communicating and transmitting information back to the ground. However, it then got stuck in a cliff, unable to collect enough energy and "hibernated".

Scientists tried to locate it but failed. However, on the evening of June 13, ESA headquarters in Germany unexpectedly received a signal from Philae, with more than 300 data packets transmitted to the center. Scientists called it a "greeting from space."

"Hello ESA Rosetta! I'm awake! How long have I been asleep?" Philae called out to Rosetta, the spacecraft that dropped it on the comet. "Oh, ESA Rosetta, it's been a long time, time to get back to work." The Rosetta spacecraft entered orbit around Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko (Comet 67P) in August 2014 after a 10-year, more than 6 billion km journey from Earth.

Months after Philae lost contact, landing systems engineer Laurence O'Rourke said it needed about 6 watts of power to power up, 9 watts to receive information, and 19 watts to communicate two-way with other probes. ESA scientists hope that if Philae gets enough sunlight, it will be revived.

"We're thrilled that Philae survived the long winter," O'Rouker said. Scientists are eagerly awaiting the data Philae transmits. Its memory can hold up to 8,000 packets of data, and analyzing the data will tell them what's happening on Comet 67P.

Philae's failed landing last November left it stranded on a cold, dark cliff. But that fortuitously saved it from being burned up by the sun when the comet approaches in August, O'Rouker said. "I think we'll see some amazing images at that time."

The 100-kilogram (220-pound) Philae robot, which is nearly weightless on the comet's surface, landed about 500 million kilometers (311 million miles) from Earth, seven hours after separating from the Rosetta spacecraft last November. Scientists hope Philae will help study and learn about materials, including compounds of carbon and water, that existed during the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago.

According to VnExpress