The fantastic decade-long mission of ESA’s Rosetta robotic space probe chasing Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko reached its zenith Wednesday with the Philae lander detaching from the mothership, beginning its first-ever seven-hour descent to icy the comet.
READ MORE: ESA historic Rosetta mission on course to first-ever comet touchdown
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12 November 2014
A doodle landed on our homepage to celebrate the Philae landing on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Congrats, ESA! http://t.co/dR7v2uQ9yT
— Google Doodles (@GoogleDoodles) November 12, 2014
.@ESA_Rosetta See for yourself! ROLIS imaged #67P when we were just 3km away! Glad I can share. #CometLandingpic.twitter.com/b6mcid2fsn
— Philae Lander (@Philae2014) November 12, 2014
A doodle landed on our homepage to celebrate the Philae landing on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Congrats, ESA! http://t.co/dR7v2uQ9yT
— Google Doodles (@GoogleDoodles) November 12, 2014
I’m on the surface but my harpoons did not fire. My team is hard at work now trying to determine why. #CometLanding
— Philae Lander (@Philae2014) November 12, 2014
"We're are on the comet!" #cometlandinghttps://t.co/c6xIWJp0TR
— ESA (@esa) November 12, 2014
Touchdown! My new address: 67P! #CometLanding
— Philae Lander (@Philae2014) November 12, 2014
'Moving in for the kiss': @Philae2014 exptected to land on #67P comet in approx 5 mins http://t.co/2Rhl3k9a7npic.twitter.com/gxvl7j1tPE
— RT (@RT_com) November 12, 2014
The landing gear is down; it's less than 30 minutes to the touchdown.
Epic view of Philae on the way to the comet! pic.twitter.com/DK0gVzDld2
— Chris B - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) November 12, 2014
The Philae lander is on the right track and is correctly positioned, according to ESA.
Philae lander takes a "farewell image" of Rosetta probe after separation:
.@philae2014’s first postcard just after separation – it’s of me! #CometLanding Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA pic.twitter.com/OXJwGunL3V
— ESA Rosetta Mission (@ESA_Rosetta) November 12, 2014
The Rosetta mission has picked up on a strange sound emitted from the comet. Hear Rosetta’s space “song” on Soundcloud.
.@ESA_Rosetta I will send you hundreds of postcards from #67P :) #CometLanding
— Philae Lander (@Philae2014) November 12, 2014
Nice to talk to you again, @ESA_Rosetta! #CometLanding
— Philae Lander (@Philae2014) November 12, 2014
ESA has confirmed it has established a link with Philae and is receiving telemetry from the probe. The space agency is now receiving data from the lander descending on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Cheers in main control room as @Philae2014 separation confirmed #cometlandinghttps://t.co/bEK6WZ9psB
— ESA (@esa) November 12, 2014
"Now it's up to gravity to bring [Philae] down," Stefan Ulamec, Philae lander manager from German aerospace center DLR said.
The lander is set to reach the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at around 15:30 GMT, though confirmation of the touchdown will reach Earth only around half-an-hour later.
'@Philae2014 is gone - it's on its path down to the comet' -Flight Director Andrea Accomazzo #CometLanding
— ESA (@esa) November 12, 2014
In about two hours, a communication link will be established with the Philae lander.
The signal from Rosetta has arrived with nearly half-an-hour’s delay, confirming that the Philae lander has successfully separated from the Rosetta probe.
SEPARATION CONFIRMED #SEP ESA confirms @Philae2014 Lander has separated from @ESA_Rosetta. Lander now enroute to #CometLanding
— ESA (@esa) November 12, 2014
Separation confirmation expected by @ESA_Rosetta mission team on ground at 09:03 GMT / 10:03 CET #CometLanding
— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) November 12, 2014
Ready when you are, @ESA_Rosetta. Give me a little nudge? #CometLanding
— Philae Lander (@Philae2014) November 12, 2014
The lander separated from the probe at 08:35 GMT at a distance of about 22km from the comet. After this final part of its journey, the lander will harpoon itself to the surface of the space body and commence a series of experiments.
It is taking 28 minutes and 20 seconds for a signal from lander retranslated by Rosetta’s antennas to reach the control station on Earth.
Standby for separation @philae2014… #CometLanding
— ESA Rosetta Mission (@ESA_Rosetta) November 12, 2014
Are you one of those? We definitely are!
Freaking loving this #cometlanding excitement. Here's twitter right now #landonthatspacethingpic.twitter.com/ZDRkYgv4O5
— IvorCrotty (@IvorCrotty) November 12, 2014
All the way ‘down’ to the comet the lander will be taking pictures of the comet and its environment, all this traveling along the comet through space at the speed of 135,000kph.
It is taking 28 minutes and 20 seconds for a signal from lander retranslated by Rosetta’s antennas to reach the control station on Earth.
RT @Philae2014: Yes! My @Philae_MUPUS instrument has been switched on. With its 3 sensors, it will study #67P surface material #CometLanding
— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) November 12, 2014
RT @ESA_Rosetta: Last chance to enjoy the view from up here @Philae2014! #CometLanding day is here! pic.twitter.com/GzU5ESsBha
— ESA (@esa) November 12, 2014
The final check confirmed that all systems of the Rosetta probe are functioning properly and its Philae lander is ‘go’ for comet landing, reported ESA.
On Tuesday a problem with Philae was detected, when the lander’s systems failed to log on properly at first. To avoid any possible problems, ESA specialists had to reboot the module to achieve proper functioning of the systems and scientific equipment on board.
"The cold gas thruster on top of the lander does not appear to be working so we will have to rely fully on the harpoons at touchdown," said Stephan Ulamec, Philae Lander Manager at the DLR German Aerospace Center, as quoted by AP.