By FranceTV info Philae ODONNE has not heard from since July 9. To get the little robot from sleep, so engineers will attempt an operation last chance. By actuating a flywheel located inside the robot, he hopes to move him, and thus improve its sunshine solar panels.
This is the first time such a maneuver will be attempted on this robot-laboratory equipped with ten instruments installed on the comet in November 2014, as part of the Rosetta mission, the European Space Agency (ESA). For several days, the order will be sent from Germany to the European probe Rosetta, explains Philippe Gaudon, the French space agency CNES. Then it will then forward to the robot.
“Time is short, so we want to explore all possibilities” , says Stefan Ulamec in charge of Philae robot the German space agency. Indeed, “by the end of January, the conditions on the comet will become ‘hostile’ to the robot and the Philae task will experience a natural end” . But to function, Philae must not fall below a temperature of – 51 degrees. But now Tchouri away from the Sun and its surface temperatures decrease. In short, the more time passes, the more chances to get in touch with Tchouri decrease.
Philippe Gaudon, for its part, is more pessimistic. “This is a Manoe desperate out (…). First, we are not sure Philae receive the order. Then, if the wheel turns, it is not will master the trajectory so it’s risky. “ According to him, it is ” highly unlikely that the robot gets back on the road. ” In late January, Philae should go into hibernation, wake up without hope. Rosetta will join in September to end his life on the comet.
After ten years of traveling as a passenger Rosetta, Philae had achieved a historic first by landing on Comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko, 12 November 2014. After several unexpected rebounds, it had stabilized in the shade, between two cliffs. The robot had worked for 60 hours before shutting down for lack of sufficient sunlight for its solar batteries. These communications iont provided insight into comets, witnesses of the genesis of the solar system there is 4.6 billion years.
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