October 29, 2020

The points of the various landings made by the lander Philae on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

An article published in the journal “Nature” reports a reconstruction of the trajectory of ESA’s Rosetta mission’s Philae lander in its touchdown on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. A team of researchers examined data collected by the Rosetta space probe and the Philae lander to find out where the latter made its second touchdown on the comet, which was followed by further bounces before finally landing. The study also showed that the affected materials contained an abundant amount of ice as soft as freshly laid snow, to the point of being described as softer than cappuccino froth.