Rosetta mission: lacking sunlight, Philae lander enters deep sleep

After landing on the wrong spot on comet 67P, Rosetta Probe Philae has now entered deep sleep mode as sunlight is unable to reach its solar panels.

The landing took an unexpected turn when Philae bounced twice after its first touchdown on Comet 67P on Wednesday. The probe rested on its side against a cliff.

Despite not having much energy, Philae managed to transmit important data about Comet 67P back to Earth before its batteries died on Saturday.

ESA mission controllers sent commands to rotate Philae’s body to try to expose a bigger area to sunlight, but the rotation happened too late to charge its batteries and the lander has since fallen silent, the Guardian reported.

Conditions may change as comet 67P moves closer to the sun, which could make it possible to charge its secondary battery, according to CNN.

Then Philae could awaken and send more data and photos back to Earth.

Comet 67P will reach its closest point to the Sun on August 13 2015, at a distance of about 185 million kilometers, roughly between the orbits of Earth and Mars.

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