• Question: did the robot that landed on the moving comit stay on it because they said that the harpoons didn't fire at the moving comit?

    Asked by 624spea43 to Francesca, Laura, Matthew, Andrew, Rebecca on 18 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Andrew McKinley

      Andrew McKinley answered on 18 Nov 2014:

      From reading about poor Philae it seems that its harpoons did not fire at the comet. Had they attached, they would have been used to pull it gently to the surface. Unfortunately it rather bounced to a halt – and what a bounce! The comet has gravity about 1/10,000 th that on earth – absolutely tiny! It’s hardly surprising that Philae bounced nearly a kilometer from the comet!

      Ultimately the gravity grabbed Philae and it came to a halt, but sadly it is in the dark, so it can’t charge its batteries 🙁

    • Photo: Matthew Camilleri

      Matthew Camilleri answered on 18 Nov 2014:

      The harpoons were supposed to be used to position the robot in a specific place, when it did not work, the robot just bounced off it, but once it stabilised on the comet, then the comet’s gravity would just keep it on the surface.

    • Photo: Laura Schofield

      Laura Schofield answered on 19 Nov 2014:

      As the boys said, the harpoons failed which meant that it had a bit of a bouncy start to its time on the comet. Due to the bounce, it landed in the shade (though scientists are still trying to work out exactly where) but they were able to move it slightly to give it the best chance of catching sunlight on the biggest one of its solar panels. Hopefully if that gets some sunlight in the future it will be able to charge up and we can make contact again – though I wouldn’t hold your breath!

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