A handout picture made available by the European Space Agency (ESA) on 12 November 2014 shows the Philae lander shortly after separation from Rosetta, 12 November 2014. The lander separated from the orbiter at 09:03 GMT/10:03 CET and is expected to touch down on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko seven hours later. Rosetta and Philae had been riding through space together for more than 10 years. photo - EPA/ESA
Confirmation of the touchdown on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko came at 4.03 pm on Wednesday, prompting a wave of jubilation from scientists involved, although it apears that the probe bounced several times.
“This is a great joy for us and a very important event,” commented engineer Jerzy Grygorczuk of the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
“It is one of those achievements that expand our understanding and knowledge of objects that previously seemed unattainable to us.
However, the Polish scientist was quick to stress that many challenges still lie ahead.
“For us, the landing is not most important, joyous moment. We have to wait for that. Our device, which we spent many years constructing, will only start to work on Thursday, and what's more during the late evening.”
Data from the craft indicated that the Philae probe bounced on the comet, and may have landed as many as three times.
The probe, which is about the size of a washing machine, needs to anchor itself.
Polish scientists are responsible for MUPUS, one of ten state of the art gadgets placed in the Philae probe.
MUPUS is comprised of a group of temperature sensors joined to a 35 cm long penetrator. When the penetrator enters the terrain of the comet, measurements will be charted, with the aim of shedding light on the properties of the comet's surface.
Comets are believed to hold crucial information about the original materials that built the Solar System over 4.5 billion years ago.
The Rosetta satellite was sent into space in 2004, and the probe was dropped yesterday from an altitude of 20 km, 510 million km from earth. (nh)
Source: PAP