The Philae Lander Has Gone Dark On Distant Comet, But Science May Have Gotten All It Needs

After an amazing landing on a comet — which may or may not harbor alien life — the Philae Lander is now silent as a tomb in deep space, and scientists back on Earth are a bit stumped.

“We do not fully understand what’s going on with Philae,” project leader Stephan Ulamec told New Scientist.

They aren’t short on theories, however. But first, a bit of background, according to The Independent.

Last November, its mother ship, Rosetta, ended a 10-year tailgate of the rock when Philae removed itself from the mother ship and touched down into a pool of shadow from a crater wall. Run by solar panels, the lander didn’t have enough sunlight and so it hibernated until summer. In June, when the comet moved closer to the sun, the panels absorbed more power and the lander “woke up.”

That’s when it started learning some amazing things about the comet — finding a black crust, underlined with water-filled craters and organic debris scattered along the surface (hence, alien life), the Inquisitr previously reported.

But Philae hasn’t beamed anything back to Earth since July 9.

One theory as to why is a faulty transmitter. If the lander moved a bit — possibly thanks to spewing gas — its antennae could be out of Rosetta’s reach; the mother ship is still orbiting, and acts as a liaison between Philae and Earth. One hint that it may have moved: the pattern sunlight has created as it beams into the solar panels is different now, and that can’t be explained just by changing seasons.

Scientists have told the lander to use its other transmitter; if it’s gone back into hibernation, they hope it receives and complies with the order in time.

As the space rock moves closer to the sun and gets hotter, that spewing gas is getting more aggressive. It’s also creating a lot more dust, which isn’t helping its navigation system. The comet will reach perihelion (its closest point to the sun) on August 13, Tech Times added. While this will make for a lively comet, Philae is protected in its sheltered spot.

So science will have to wait for the time being; luckily, the Philae Lander team as gotten all of the data it needs. If they reconnect, scientists will use the robot’s camera and temperature sensors to collect more data and take samples of the comet. Rosetta will still be working in the meantime; she’ll be studying its southern hemisphere.

The team here on Earth believes they have until October for Philae to wake up again. After that, it’ll be lost in darkness forever. For now, at least, they remain optimistic, Dr. Ulmec said.

“The lander is obviously still functional, because it sends us data, albeit at irregular intervals and at surprising times. There have been several times when we feared that (it) would not switch back on, but it has repeatedly taught us otherwise.”

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