Rosetta Mission: Philae Lander on Comet Goes Silent

The European Space Agency's Rosetta Mission landed its Philae probe on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Wednesday, but it seems the lander has run out of charge and the ESA has lost all contact.

The ESA had earlier tried to nudge the probe to a more sunnier spot but failed.

Philae runs on solar powered batteries and the probe has been too long away from the sun making the batteries run dry.

The European Space Agency says it  will not be able to regain contact with the probe 'unless sufficient sunlight falls on the solar panels to generate enough power to wake it up'. The agency lost contact a little after midnight, Friday.

Stephan Ulamec from the European Space Operations Centre said that the probe's performance was better than expected and researchers have gathered enough information to help in future projects and research, reports the Metro.

 The scientists were able to get some research data from the lander before it shut down completely.

The Philae mission tweeted on its official account: "@ESA_Rosetta I'm feeling a bit tired, did you get all my data? I might take a nap... #CometLanding."

The ESA scientists will try to track the progress of Comet 67P/C-G  through the mothership Rosetta.

The Philae probe did not get a firm grip on the comet's surface when it landed and tilted to its side in the shadow of a cliff or a boulder, further cutting it off from its source of power.

The Philae batteries were equipped to last 60 hours but ESA scientists were hoping that the solar panels would help it last longer.