Dear readers and followers,
after the successful touch-down of the lander Philae on the comet 67P Churyumov Gerasimenko yesterday! The french space agency is doing a conference from Toulouse, France, to clarify all the technical points and the safety of the Philae spacecraft since the landing! Sorry for English people, the video is in french.
Credit image: +CNES
Touchdown was planned to take place at a speed of around 1 m/s after its separation from Rosseta, with the three-legged landing gear absorbing the impact to prevent rebound, and an ice screw in each foot driving into the surface.
But during the final health checks of the lander before separation, a problem was detected with the small thruster on top that was designed to counteract the recoil of the harpoons to push the lander down onto the surface. The conditions of landing, including whether or not the thruster performed, along with the exact location of Philae on the comet are being analysed.
The lander seems be close to a kind of cave which stop its moves after two bound since its this touch-down. 8/10 scientific instruments are working normally for the moment. The two other stay off for the moment because they need to move and drill the comet. For safety of the lander, engineer are still working and analyzing data to determine if they will activate the 2 last instruments.
Credit image: ESA/ROSETTA/PHILAE/CIVA
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