Posted: Sat, Nov 15, 2014, 11:42 AM ET (1642 GMT)
ESA's Philae lander stopped transmitting early Saturday as the spacecraft, located in a shadowed region of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, exhausted its batteries. ESA said it lost contact with Philae at about 7:36 pm EST Friday (0036 GMT Saturday) as the spacecraft drained its batteries. The lander did complete its primary science mission during the nearly 57 hours it was on the comet, transmitting that data to the Rosetta orbiter and on to Earth because depleting its battery. Philae bounced twice during its landing on November 12, coming to rest in an area with limited illumination and thus preventing the lander's solar arrays from recharging its batteries. Despite the loss of power, ESA officials called the lander's mission a success, and said it was possible that the lander could be revived later when as the landing area gets more sunlight.
