European Space Agency says final farewell to Philae comet lander

Rosetta spacecraft will use remaining power for science before it crash-lands on the comet Sept. 30

Image | Philae touchdown

Caption: The European Space Agency has received no signal from the Philae lander, seen in an artist's conception, for a year. (ESA/ATG medialab)

The European Space Agency says it is switching off its radio link to the probe that landed on a comet, after receiving no signal from the lander for a year.

Embed | Twitter

Open Full Embed in New Tab (external link)Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage.
The agency says the decision to shut down a communications instrument on the Rosetta spacecraft Wednesday was taken to conserve energy. Rosetta had used the instrument to communicate with its lander, Philae, which touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November 2014.

Embed | Twitter

Open Full Embed in New Tab (external link)Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage.
During the next two months, Rosetta will use its remaining power to conduct scientific measurements before it crash-lands on the comet Sept. 30.
Data collected by Rosetta and Philae have improved scientists' understanding of comets and the role they played in the early universe.