DARMSTADT, Germany: Europe made history Wednesday by placing the first-ever lander on a comet – but the robot failed to anchor itself properly, raising concerns at ground control.The fridge-sized lab dubbed Philae touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in a high-risk manoeuvre more than 510 million kilometres from Earth, the European Space Agency (ESA) said. But instead of harpooning itself to the surface after a seven-hour descent from mothership Rosetta, early radio signals suggest Philae could have settled in a soft surface or gently lifted off and then redescended.“So maybe today we didn’t once, we even landed twice,” Philae lander manager …read more
Source: The Borneo Post
