Rosetta’s Philae Lander Snaps a Selfie

(Before It's News)

Rosetta’s solar panels as seen by Philae’s CIVA imaging system on April 14, 2014. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA

Philae is awake… and taking pictures! This image, acquired last night with the lander’s CIVA (Comet nucleus Infrared and Visible Analyzer) instrument, shows the left and right solar panels of ESA’s well-traveled Rosetta spacecraft, upon which the 100-kilogram Philae is mounted.

Philae successfully emerged from hibernation on March 28 via a wake-up call from ESA.

After over a decade of traveling across the inner Solar System, Rosetta and Philae are now in the home stretch of their ultimate mission: to orbit and achieve a soft landing on comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will be the first time either feat has ever been attempted by a spacecraft. Read more here.

Source: ESA Rosetta Blog

Jason Major on Google+

© Jason Major for Universe Today, 2014. |
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Post tags: comet, esa, philae, rosetta, selfie, solar panels

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