Philae probe sent the first pictures

One can only imagine the joy of the team of the Rosetta mission, after receiving this photo (comet core from a distance of 3 km, photo taken by Philae)

As already reported on Geektimes , the Philae probe successfully separated from the interplanetary station Roosette, and made a soft landing on the surface of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Landing on a comet is one of the most important landmarks in the history of space exploration.

Many have already spoken and written about this to everyone, so we will not repeat. It is better to look at the photos that Philae sent the probe during the landing on the comet. Yes, the preview image was taken with a probe before landing, using the Rosetta Lander Imaging System (ROLIS) tool, which is located at the bottom of the device.
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Now the probe is studying the texture and microstructure of the cometary nucleus. After a while, I hope, we will see pictures of the comet taken by the probe already on the surface.

By the way, an interesting point. We all already know that the harpoons did not work as they should. Therefore, the probe landed without harpoons, which is fraught with various troubles. According to the head of the operation on “kommerchevaniyu” probe, the device seems to have sat down twice. Preliminary data on landing indicate that the probe sat down, then rose above the surface of the comet, and sat down again. Maybe the harpoons did work the second time. While the situation clears up.


Bye Philae! Photograph of the probe separated from the parent station, taken by Rosette herself


And photos of Rosetta made by Philae

In the meantime, you can admire high-resolution photos of the comet's core made by Rosetta at different times. We will wait for news from the ESA.











Via nationalpost