Rosetta's Philae Lander Found! - Vatican Observatory

The Philae lander, lost among the crags, clefts, and shadows on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko has been found!

The Rosetta spacecraft, flying a mere 2.7 km above the comet on September 2^nd, located the lander with its OSIRIS narrow-angle camera as it imaged the comet’s surface at a resolution of 5 cm/pixel.

An OSIRIS narrow-angle camera image taken on 2 September 2016 from a distance of 2.7 km in which Philae was definitively identified. The image has been processed to adjust the dynamic range in order to see Philae while maintaining the details of the comet’s surface. Philae is located at the far right of the image, just above center. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Where’s Philae? This OSIRIS narrow-angle camera image was taken on 2 September 2016 from a distance of 2.7 km in which Philae was definitively identified. Philae is located at the far right of the image, just above center. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

The Rosetta Twitter feed was abuzz with the news:

THE SEARCH IS OVER! I’ve found @Philae2014!! https://t.co/a39zKc4Tz3 #CometLanding #PhilaeFound pic.twitter.com/Dubx5MpGSZ

— ESA Rosetta Mission (@ESA_Rosetta) September 5, 2016

I was so close to #67P, I could even make out @Philae2014‘s legs and instruments! https://t.co/xBcHlOuE5b pic.twitter.com/valSCdwtZ9

— ESA Rosetta Mission (@ESA_Rosetta) September 5, 2016

So happy to have seen @Philae2014 again before my mission ends later this month…more about my #CometLanding soon! pic.twitter.com/ErB0ROrgP6

— ESA Rosetta Mission (@ESA_Rosetta) September 5, 2016

This welcome discovery comes only a few weeks before the Rosetta mission ends with the spacecraft impacting on the surface of the comet on September 30^th. Congratulations to the Rosetta team and ESA – what a spectacularly successful mission!