Free Astronomy Magazine May-June 2015

41 MAY-JUNE 2015 SMALL BODIES M osaic of two images of the 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko’s surface, show- ing the rocky ridge close to which Philae bounced. On the left can be seen one of the three legs of the small probe. [ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA] A fter the hullabaloo raised last August by the Rosetta mission, with the en- try into orbit of the probe around the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and last November, with the descent of the Phi- lae lander on the surface of the cometary nucleus, the interest of the general public towards those events has, as always hap- pens in these cases, waned. A ma- jor contribution in low- ering the level of attention was cer- tainly had by the adventurous land- ing of the same Phi- lae, which instead of just resting on the com- et and anchor itself to the surface with its special harpoons, it bounced three times before end- ing up in a ditch, hiding close to a ridge pre- venting it from re- charging its so- lar panels bat- teries. The s c i ent i f i c i n s t r u - men t s of the small