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NEW IMAGES HAVE been released of Europe’s space probe Philae in the act of landing on the 67P comet last week.
The tiny space robot had a bumpy touchdown as it attempted a precision landing on the distant rock, on Wednesday last.
It first landed smack in the middle of its targeted site — but a pair of anchoring harpoons failed to deploy.
It rebounded, touched down again, bounced up once more and then landed for the third time at a place believed to be about a kilometre from the first landing site.
Philae then found itself in the shadow of a cliff, tilted at an angle that left one of its three legs pointed to the sky.
The images presented here were taken by the probe’s ‘mothership’ — the larger Rosetta satellite.
Pic: ESA
The probe sent home a treasure trove of information from the comet, before losing power and switching to standby mode early on Saturday.
Scientists are now beginning the complicated process of data analysis from more that 60 hours of atmosphere-sniffing, drilling, hammering and otherwise studying Comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Includes reporting from AFP.
Read: Philae seems to be stuck under a cliff with one leg dangling in space >
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