Phila pulls out of the lethargy and sends the signal from the surface of comet 67P
The signal arrived on Saturday night at the ESA operations center in Darmsde: The transmission lasted 85 seconds and Phila issued 300 data sets via the Rosetta orbiter. It is the first sign you have sent since November 15.
ESA opened the news on Sunday at noon and the joy spread quickly through social networks. In a few hours he had more than 29,000 words in Philae's first txio on Twitter: “Hello Earth! Do you listen to me?”
Hello Earth! Can you hear me? Recent searches
— Philae Lander (@Philae2014) June 14, 2015
Mission leaders expected that as Comet 67P approached the Sun, Philae solar panels would receive more light and “wake up” the vehicle, and so it has finally been. In addition, after analyzing the collected data, the researchers have concluded that “it has already awakened before, although it has not been able to send them in signal”. In fact, you need a minimum power of 19 watts to communicate and temperatures below -45ºC to boot the computer. At the moment, “he works at -35ºC and has 24 watts available,” said Stephan Ulamec, head of the Philae project. “He is willing to work,” he added.
Individual and prudent steps
The first task will be to stabilize the contact between Philae and Rosetta, adapting the position and orientation of Rosetta. Next, the situation and day-to-day of Philae will be analyzed, depending on the temperature and energy cycle in which it is located, and new research orders will be charged. In recent months ESA engineers have designed for him works that can last between 2 and 3 hours, measures that do not require the charging of Philae batteries, and a plan to turn on the instruments step by step, from when they need less energy until they need it more.
Although the leaders of the mission have been satisfied and enthusiastic to start working, we must not forget that Philae is in a rather unstable position on the front page of the comet and that he does not know exactly where it is. A few days ago the ESA announced a possible place, but they have not yet confirmed it.
ESA members expect to receive more signals and data in the coming days. In fact, the memory contains another 8,000 sets of data collected on the other occasions when it has been awakened. They also consider that stabilizing the contact between Rosetta and Philae can determine the position of the vehicle.
Meanwhile, comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimen continues to approach the Sun on 13 August and until then Phila should be increasingly enlightened.
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