A probe that landed on a comet in a first for space exploration has ended up in the shadow of a cliff, about a kilometre from its intended resting place, the European Space Agency (ESA) said yesterday.
The lander, named Philae, was released from its mothership Rosetta on Wednesday as it orbited comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, in the climax of a 10-year mission for the ESA.
But harpoons to anchor it to the surface failed to deploy and it bounced twice before floating to rest two hours later. The ESA needs to analyse data beamed half a billion kilometres back to Earth to pinpoint its location.
“Where we are is not entirely where we wanted to be,” lead lander scientist Jean-Pierre Biebring told a news conference.
The ESA has published pictures of the comet and images of the 100kg lander – virtually weightless on the comet’s rocky surface – and said it was operating normally.
“Do not put the emphasis on the failures of the system, it is gorgeous where we are now,” Biebring said.
In the shadows, Philae’s solar panels, which were meant to power the probe when its batteries run out today, get only an hour and a half of sunlight a day, instead of the expected six to seven hours.