ESA’s Rosseta mission highlight is now imminent. Philae will be start its landing phase on 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on 11th November and actually land on the 12th November 2014. This PDF detailed timeline lists events leading up separation, landing and just after separation. All the times are in GMT.
In the end Philae performed 3 landings,15:33, 17:26 & 17:33. Still not secured to the comet’s surface but telemetry indicating all science instruments are OK. If it has ended up in a shadow zone behind a big bolder – it will only survive for the 2 days its charged battery allows. In sunshine it could last several months but is unlikely to survive the close approach of the sun around spring next year.
More via @Philae2014 (or search using #CometLanding) and live feed below once the actions starts.
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