The Little Robot That Could
The little space-bot, Philae, made history last November by being the first-ever robot to land on a comet. While amazing in its technological feats and detailed measurements of comet 67P taken at close range, all was not perfect with this historic landing, leading European Space Agency (ESA) scientists to admit that, shortly after landing they did not in fact know Philae’s location on the comet.
The glitch was a misfire of Philae’s landing harpoons such that the robot bounced off the comet twice, eventually becoming wedged in one of the comet’s cliffs, the precise location of which, the scientists admitted, was unknown.
Panoramic image of Philae’s final landing site captured by the Rosetta orbiter’s CIVA-P imaging system.
The 360º view shows roughly the point of final touchdown. The lander is sketched on top of the image in its estimated configuration (Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA).
Due to the non-sticky landing, the final orientation of…
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