Close-up of the Philae lander in a dark crack on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The vertical white object is one of the lander's three legs. This image was taken by the Rosetta spacecraft at a distance of 2.7 kilometres from the comet on 2nd September 2016. Rosetta,which was carrying Philae,was launched in March 2004 on a 10 year mission to study this comet. It rendezvoused with the comet on 6th August 2014. Philae successfully landed on the comet on 12th November 2014,but lost communication with Rosetta after three days. Its landing place would have prevented light hitting the solar panels that were to power the lander. The landing position (on its side) also hindered communication. Philae was found less than a month before the end of the mission,when the Rosetta spacecraft will descend to the comet's surface. Image taken by Rosetta's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / IDA / DASP / UPM / INTA / SSO / IAA / LAM / UPD / MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS / Rosetta / ESA |
Taille de l’image : | 440 px × 440 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
Restrictions : |
|