Expand / / The close-ups emphasize the ice exposed at the boulders if Philae struck them throughout its next touchdown (green box over ). (charge: O’Rourke et al./Nature)
Even the Rosetta mission’s effort to shed the Philae lander onto a comet in 2014 did not proceed according to plan. The harpoon mechanism intended to adhere Philae into terra-not-quite-firma did not get the job done, and inadequate Philae ended up leaping around and landing below a dim cliff overhang, not able to deploy its solar panels and finish its activities. But let it never be stated that Philae didn’t leave its mark. Since it did. Very literally.
To extract value in Philae’s unintentional experience, scientists have worked tirelessly to spot the areas at which the craft influenced the surface of the comet. This essential meticulous evaluation of Philae’s movement sensors to rebuild its own trajectory, together with a terrifically intricate sport of”{} things isn’t like others” played before-and-after pictures of the comet’s surface.
The website of the first rebound was simple enough to find, however, the route from there to the resting position has been just another story. A new study headed by the European Space Agency’s Laurence O’Rourke shows another place where Philae dented comet 67P. And how big the dent really tells us something notable about what comets are really like.
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