Chances of further communication with Phil's satellite are approaching zero.

The descent of the probe "Fila" on the comet



The team working on the Fila project, the descent module, which landed on the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet in November 2014, states with regret that the probe is most likely lost to humanity. Fila has not called home since July 9, 2015, and apparently this was the last contact with him.



“The chances that Phila will contact our team through the control center, unfortunately, are approaching zero,” says Stephan Ulamec, the project manager at the German space mission center. “We are no longer sending him any commands and would be very surprised if we received any news from him.”

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At the same time, the Rosetta spacecraft, which delivered the probe to the comet, continues to benefit science, cutting circles around the celestial body. Her work will continue until September, when the device will also be sent to meet with the comet, and has already given interesting results. For example, it turned out that the comet’s ice contains three times more heavy water than Earth’s oceans. This result contradicts the generally accepted theory that the water of the Earth has cometary origin.



An international team of engineers, consisting of specialists from space centers in Germany, France and Italy, understood the state in which the Fila probe was located, sorting out the information obtained from the very moment of its historic landing on the comet.



The mission went according to plan until the probe came into contact with the surface of the comet. For reliable fastening to the surface it had to press the rocket engine, while he had to cling to the surface with harpoons and gimlets. But the engine did not work, and as a result, the probe, zapping over the comet, froze in such an unfortunate position that the solar panels did not receive enough energy for its normal functioning.



During the short communication sessions, scientists still managed to get some valuable information — for example, particles containing complex organic compounds were found on the comet's surface.