The European Space Agency says harpoons designed to anchor the Philae
probe failed to deploy during its landing on the comet
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Wednesday
The University of Manchester, Cambridge IP, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Graphene Flagship, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, The University of Texas at Austin, Stanford University, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Philae
initially came down precisely where it was supposed to (see red
indicator) — but couldn’t stick its landing. After two hops, it landed
somewhere else, still to be determined and partially in shadow.
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA