On This Day In Space: Sept. 2, 2016: Lost and found! Rosetta sees Philae lander on Comet 67P (Image Credit: Space.com)
On Sept. 2, 2016, the European Space Agency finally located Philae, its long-lost comet lander. Philae is a spacecraft about the size of a washing machine, and it was dropped off at Comet 67P by another spacecraft named Rosetta in November 2014.
Philae’s Incredible Comet Odyssey: Photos
But when Philae’s landing harpoons failed to deploy, it bounced all over the comet before tumbling into a shady place where its solar panels couldn’t collect enough light. Philae did transmit some data to Rosetta while using the last of its batteries after the landing, and it occasionally made contact for months after the crash.
Rosetta kept looking for Philae by flying around Comet 67P and taking photos. It took Rosetta almost two years to find Philae. A photo taken on Sept. 2, 2016 showed little Philae lying on its side in a dark, rocky crevice.
Locating Philae’s grave finally gave the European Space Agency some closure less than a month before Rosetta’s mission came to an end with another epic crash landing on Comet 67/P.
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