Philae's orbiting mothership Rosetta has reopened communications lines for 10 days to listen for any call from the slumbering robot, Paris-based Rosetta project manager Francis Rocard of France's CNES space agency told AFP on Thursday.
Chances for contact improve daily as comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko draws closer to the sun and its battery-replenishing rays, though the orientation of Philae's solar panels is unknown.
There had been two previous, unsuccessful attempts, in March and April, to contact the washing machine-sized probe, which fell silent three days after touching down on "67P" last November.
"We will listen anew from May 8-17," Rocard told AFP, but added a note of caution: "We cannot say with 100 percent certainty that it will wake up."
The 100-kilogram (220-pound) robot lab touched down on the comet on November 12 after a 10-year trek piggybacking on its mother ship, Rosetta.
But instead of harpooning itself onto the dusty iceball's surface, Philae bounced several times before settling at an angle in a dark ditch.
The little lander had enough stored battery power for 60 hours of experiments, and sent home reams of data before going into standby mode on November 15.
As "67P" draws closer to the sun, scientists hope better light will recharge Philae's batteries enough for it to reboot, then make contact, and ultimately carry out a new series of experiments.
But the window is shrinking.
By Aug. 13 the comet will reach its closest point to the sun, or perihelion, before veering off again into the deeper reaches of space.
Read more at Discovery News
No comments:
Post a Comment