Drill baby drill!
Faced with a loss of power in Philae’s batteries due to a lack of sunlight, scientists plan to activate the lander’s drill today.
This action might push the lander off the surface again, but it also might move it into daylight. At the least it might get them some geological data.
If the reserve battery runs out of power and the spacecraft shuts down on Saturday, there is still a chance that it could come back to life at a later time, should Comet 67P/C-G’s position change enough to put its solar panels in daylight and it can charge its main battery.
Faced with a loss of power in Philae’s batteries due to a lack of sunlight, scientists plan to activate the lander’s drill today.
This action might push the lander off the surface again, but it also might move it into daylight. At the least it might get them some geological data.
If the reserve battery runs out of power and the spacecraft shuts down on Saturday, there is still a chance that it could come back to life at a later time, should Comet 67P/C-G’s position change enough to put its solar panels in daylight and it can charge its main battery.