The Philae lander that touched down on a comet in November has been uncommunicative for almost two weeks, and space scientists are now anxious contact may be permanently lost. Despite the loss, the orbiter continues to characterize and soak up as much information as possible about the comet as it nears its closest encounter with the Sun, known as perihelion.
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According to scientists, a fault might have occurred in Philae’s radio equipment and as a result of that it was not able to send back signals.
Mission scientists at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) last received a signal from the lander on July 9 but suddenly went into “silent mode”.
After landing on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November, Philae unexpectedly bounced into a shadow – a shadow cast either by a crater or outcropping.
And this August the mission will hit a major milestone when the comet passes closest to the Sunday. “This can not be explained only by the course of the seasons on the comet”. If not, Philae’s antenna may have been obstructed, and one of its transmitters appears to have stopped working.
Mission controllers have sent a “blind command” to the probe telling it to use only the functional transmitter if one of them is faulty.
It also has an “emergency programme” allowing it to operate five scientific instruments even without receiving commands from Earth. Located close to the comet’s equator, Imhotep is thought to be one of the most geologically diverse regions of 67P, with observations of the area contributing greatly to our understanding of the wandering celestial bodies.
Dr. Ulamec is still not losing hope that the probe will rose back to life again as he stated that, “The lander is obviously still functional, because it sends us data, albeit at irregular intervals and at surprising times”.
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“Several times we were afraid that the lander would remain off – but it has repeatedly taught us otherwise”, he added.
