• Question: Wow!! Philae landed on the comet. What sort of information will we get from it?

    Asked by CheekyMonkey to Alex, Ali, Kerry, Philip, Theo on 13 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Alison Thomson

      Alison Thomson answered on 13 Nov 2014:

      Big WOW! It’s super exciting! The information we’ll get will be it’s composition – i.e. what elements make up the comet, and it’s physical properties i.e. if it’s hard or soft, wet or dry. This will give us an idea of what it’s like where the comet came from, and people are even saying it might gives us clues to the origins of our solar system!

      Let’s hope they get the results soon! I can’t wait!

    • Photo: Philip Ratcliffe

      Philip Ratcliffe answered on 14 Nov 2014:

      Well, it looks like it’s having problems. It bounced on landing and ended up in the shadow of a cliff and so its solar panels are not able to recharge its batteries. They now have to decide wìhether to soldier on like this or to try shifting it and risk and damaging crash.
      Anyway, it should give us information on the composition of the meteorite, which will then give us some idea as to its origins and any links it might have with larger bodies and also how the solar system evolved.

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