CANADA: The Philae spacecraft has been in touch with Earth from a speeding comet for the second time since waking up a few days ago, mission control said Monday, and scientists hope to improve communications with the lander by shifting the trajectory of its mother ship.
Philae in November became the first spacecraft ever to settle on a comet when it touched down on icy 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, but it managed to send data to Earth for only about 60 hours before running out of power.
Scientists were elated this weekend when, as the comet approached the sun, Philae’s solar panels absorbed enough light to recharge its main battery and wake up the lander.
Philae broke its silence Saturday by sending a signal back to Earth via Rosetta, its mother spacecraft, which is 124 to 150 miles away from the comet.
Philae then got in touch again Sunday night, sending back five packets of data, said Sylvain Lodiot, the operations manager for Rosetta. Still, he said, that was much less data than the previous night.
It’s not clear why the connection was less stable, but scientists suspect a slight increase in the lander’s distance from Rosetta may have been a factor.
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