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Philae's Batteries Have Drained; Comet Lander Sleeps

Posted by timothy on from the amazing-feats-done-dirt-dirt-cheap dept.

astroengine (1577233) writes "In the final hours, Philae's science team hurried to squeeze as much science out of the small lander as possible. But the deep sleep was inevitable, Rosetta's lander has slipped into hibernation after running its batteries dry. This may be the end of Philae's short and trailblazing mission on the surface of Comet 67P, but a huge amount of data — including data from a drilling operation that, apparently, was carried out despite concerns that Philae wasn't positioned correctly — was streamed to Rosetta mission control. "Prior to falling silent, the lander was able to transmit all science data gathered during the First Science Sequence," said Stephan Ulamec, Philae Lander Manager. "This machine performed magnificently under tough conditions, and we can be fully proud of the incredible scientific success Philae has delivered.""

6 of 337 comments (clear)

  1. Hey don't worry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    3D printing and private space means that we'll soon have dozens, no, hundreds of private space probes out there searching for mineable asteroids and comets because there's just so much money to be made out there!

    1. Re:Hey don't worry by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

      We will need the cheap Delta-V first.

      Just print it! Geez guy, haven't you been keeping up?

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:Hey don't worry by l0n3s0m3phr34k · · Score: 1, Funny

      He almost had one, guess he shouldn't have picked Saddam Hussein as his financial backer LOL His mega-gun was one of the top targets in Desert Storm.

    3. Re:Hey don't worry by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

      a supergun will be the way to go

      I'm sure the idea will be popular in the US. You could fund it with NRA sponsorship.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  2. Re:Who cares about the lander? by Kyusaku+Natsume · · Score: 3, Funny

    "No country for young men"

    How much ado about nothing. This ladies will go insane at the hentai floors of the bookstores at Akihabara, and then buy a truckload of boylove manga.

    --
    Mexico: 100% conservative's America now!
  3. Note to self by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Note to SCIENCE ENGINEERING GENIUSES, when running a 100 million first of it's kind science project that depends on sunlight to run batteries. DON'T PARK IN THE SHADOWS!!!! It ain,t rocket science, ya know?