The search campaign to identify and image the Philae Lander on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

L. O'Rourke , C. Tubiana , C. Güttler , S. Lodiot , P. Muñoz , A. Herique (1) , Y. Rogez (1) , J. Durand (2) , A. Charpentier , H. Sierks , P. Gutierrez-Marques , J. Deller , B. Grieger , R. Andres , B. Geiger , K. Geurts , S. Ulamec , N. Kömle , V. Lommatsch , M. Maibaum , J. L. Pellon , C. Bielsa , R. Garmier , M. Taylor , P. Martin , M. Küppers , A. Accomazzo , V. Companys , J. P. Bibring , W. Kofman (1) , S. Mckenna Lawlor , M. Salatti , P. Gaudon (2)

1 IPAG - Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble
2 CNES - Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris]

On the 12th of November 2014, the Rosetta Philae Lander descended to make the first soft touchdown on the surface of a comet - comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. That soft touchdown did occur but due to the failure in the firing of its two harpoons, Philae bounced and travelled across the comet making contact with the surface twice more before finally landing in a shaded rocky location somewhere on the southern hemisphere of the comet. The search campaign, led by ESA, involved multiple teams across Europe with a wide range of techniques used in support of it. This search campaign would continue through 2015 where a prime candidate on the surface was identified and on into 2016 to end on the 2nd of September 2016 when a definitive and conclusive image was taken of the lander on the surface of the comet, confirming the prime candidate to indeed be Philae.

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

L. O'Rourke, C. Tubiana, C. Güttler, S. Lodiot, P. Muñoz, et al.. The search campaign to identify and image the Philae Lander on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Acta Astronautica, 2019, 157, pp.199-214. ⟨10.1016/j.actaastro.2018.12.035⟩. ⟨insu-03703883⟩