'Goodbye' to Philae
Scientists gave up yesterday trying to contact robot lab Philae, stubbornly silent on the surface of a comet streaking through space -- closing a captivating chapter in an historic quest.
"Time to say goodbye to Philae," announced the German Aerospace Center DLR, and said it "will no longer be sending any commands."
Philae's comet host is moving further and further away from the Sun and its battery-boosting rays, and by this point "there is indeed little hope to still get a signal," project manager Stephan Ulamec told AFP.
The probe was "probably" covered with comet dust, and shaded on the craggy surface of its alien home -- comet 67P/Churyomov-Gerasimenko. Comet-orbiting mothership Rosetta will continue listening for Philae for a month or two, until it can no longer spare the energy required.
Philae touched down on November 12, 2014, after a 10-year, 6.5-billion-kilometre odyssey through space, piggybacking on Rosetta. Placing a probe on 67P marked a breakthrough moment in the European Space Agency's mission to prod a comet for clues to the origins of life on Earth.
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