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  Cometary probe Philae lives!Jun 16, 2015 2:39 AM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:The ESA's tiny Philae probe, mankind's first cometary lander, lost somewhere in a dark ditch on the surface of Comet 67P after it took a hard bounce during its historic landing seven months ago, has come back to life! The comet is nearing perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun, and even at the bottom of its steep ditch, the lander's solar panels are now getting three hours of extra-intense sunlight each day, which has been enough for it to wake up and beam short messages to its orbiting mothership. Scientists hope to get the lander to work on sampling the gasses sizzling off the comet—indeed, the increased heating of the comet means Philae now has much richer conditions for conducting its experiments on the comet's composition than it would have had if it had started its work on schedule back in November. Can it recover sufficiently to perform its tests? Can it—and the comet—survive their pass by the Sun? Things are heating up!
 
 
 
 
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