Earth says goodbye to comet probe Philae

Scientists gave up on Friday 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 Centre 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.

But Ulamec insisted: “To be honest and to be realistic: It’s really not likely that we will hear anything any more.” The washing machine-sized probe’s exploits captured the hearts and minds of thousands, hardened scientists and children alike, who followed its every move via social media and fretted when it fell silent. Philae touched down on November 12, 2014, after a 10-year, 6.5-billion-kilometre (four-billion-mile) 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.