An image recently captured by Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera shows the Philae lander is nestled in a crevice on the Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko's Abydos region.
In November of 2014, the European Space Agency announced that its Rosetta mission lander, Philae, had successfully made it to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
However, where it ended up has long been a mystery.
That changed in recent days, when an image captured by Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera showed the lander nestled in a crevice on the comet’s Abydos region.
Philae’s position explains quite a bit about why the lander has had a difficult time transmitting information.
Three days after touchdown, Philae’s battery lost its charge, only resuming power for a brief time during the summer of 2015.
Matt Taylor, one of the team members, said, “This wonderful news means that we now have the missing ‘ground-truth’ information needed to put Philae’s three days of science into proper context…”
The discovery comes as the mission prepares for Rosetta’s final descent to the comet’s surface.