With the Earth's resources dwindling, there has been much attention given in the possibility of mining celestial objects for metals and other minerals. Consequently, multiple agencies have dedicated researchers into developing technologies that would make mining possible. Fortunately, several efforts have proven fruitful - one of the most significant being the Philae Comet Lander from the European Space Agency.
Philae, together with the Rosetta spacecraft, was launched from the French Guiana in March 2004. A decade following the launch, the robotic lander landed on comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko, a comet from the Kuiper belt 185,980,000 km from the sun at its closest, on August 2014. Since its landing, Philae has acquired and sent back information on the "elemental, isotopic, molecular and mineralogical composition" of Churymov-Gerasimenko.
In November 2014, Philae went into hibernation due to its rechargeable battery failing to get enough sunlight. The robotic lander has since communicated with mission control sporadically since with its last message dated July 2015.
Scientists and researchers involved in the Philae project has since spoken out about the possibility of communication with the spacecraft. Unfortunately even the team from the German Aerospace Center is pessimistic about the likelihood of data coming from their project. They have explained that they are not sending commands anymore.
Unfortunately, the probability of Philae re-establishing contact with our team at the DLR Lander Control Center is almost zero, and we will no longer be sending any commands. "It would be very surprising if we received a signal now" explained Stephan Ulemec, Phila project manager.
The European Space Agency also shared the same sentiment. Through its Rosetta Mission Twitter account, the agency shared the status report of the Philae Comet lander.
"Still listening, but I fear @Philae2014 is facing tough conditions on#67P... Status report: http://ow.ly/Yfc7P" read the tweet.
To date the 100kg robotic lander has spent more than 4,000 Earth days in space.
