After celebrating clinging to a comet — a glorious first in space exploration — scientists were experiencing the space mission equivalent of a hangover yesterday as they woke up wondering where their lander had in fact landed.
It quickly emerged that although the Philae lander had hit its intended site 250 million miles from Earth, it had then bounced about 1km back into space, spending two hours slowly spinning as it floated about.
After a second shorter bounce, lasting seven minutes, it finally came to rest about 1km from its target site, in the rim of a crater halfway across the “head” of the duck-shaped comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Dr Stephan Ulamec, head of the lander team, said the exact position of the lander was yet to