European probe working well on surface of host comet

The European probe Philae was “working well” on the surface of its host comet, though likely perched on a steep slope, ground controllers said a day after the probe made its historic landing. Some data suggested the washing machine-sized probe may have touched down 3 times on the low-gravity comet, which is zipping towards the Sun at 18 kilometers per second (11 miles per second). Philae’s anchoring harpoons failed to deploy, but it still managed to send back scientific data for the European Space Agency (ESA) flagship mission as well as the first-ever picture taken from the surface of a comet. “Philae is working well. Its battery is working well and is providing power,” mission head Philippe Gaudon of France’s CNES space agency said.

Read the full story on Rappler. Scientists explain here what kind of data they expect the spacecraft to harness.