Philae, the European Space Agency (ESA) lander made the historic touchdown on comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko although it lacked to latch on properly yet the position is said to be stable relatively. The agency has been able to get hold of its first image.
The lander has been hovering in space since a decade on its mother ship Rosetta. And finally it was able to place itself though not as easily as it was expected. After slight bounce, it anchored itself on the comet’s body. As per the space scientists, the bouncing did cause any damage as of now, in fact, they are receiving images from Philae.
The images received have depicted comet’s rocky surface.
Gravity
Comet’s gravity is 1/100,000th with respect to Earth, that means, lander which is having a size of a regular washing machine, will weigh there around 1 gm. Now the question is while drilling, Philae might not experience a thrust into space. Since drilling is essential for obtaining samples, so scientists are worried whether the bounce might displace the current stability.
Researchers are expecting to gain insights regarding the celestial bodies including life’s origin on Earth with the current $1.62 billion project.
Source: Rosetta Blog
