Philae Archives

Representative anchoring mechanisms for small-body sampling robots. (a) Mechanical penetration.

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microgravity, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Status Report

Offworld Science Droids: A Review Maps Key Technologies For Small-body Sampling Robots

by Keith CowingApril 30, 2026April 30, 2026

Unlike planetary rovers operating on the Moon or Mars, robots working on asteroids and comets must interact with surfaces where gravity is extremely weak, terrain is highly irregular, and material […]

Astrochemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Press Release

Comet Nuclei Composition And Evolution

by Keith CowingOctober 7, 2022December 2, 2023

Thanks to Rosetta orbiter’s and Philae lander’s data our knowledge of cometary nuclei composition has experienced a great advancement.

Astrochemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Press Release

Modelling The Water And Carbon Dioxide Production Rates Of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

by Keith CowingSeptember 13, 2022December 2, 2023

The European Space Agency Rosetta/Philae mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014-2016 is the most complete and diverse investigation of a comet carried out thus far. Yet, many physical and chemical […]

Astrochemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Press Release

Looking for Cometary Organics

by Keith CowingNovember 18, 2014

Before going into hibernation at 01:36 CET on 15 November 2014, the Philae lander was able to conduct some work using power supplied by its primary battery. With its 10 […]

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Press Release

What Chemistry Is Rosetta’s Comet Lander Looking For?

by Keith CowingNovember 12, 2014March 25, 2023

Today, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta mission is attempting one of the most ambitious maneuvers in space exploration: to soft-land a robotic probe on a comet for the first […]

Philae

Offworld Science Droids: A Review Maps Key Technologies For Small-body Sampling Robots

Comet Nuclei Composition And Evolution

Modelling The Water And Carbon Dioxide Production Rates Of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Looking for Cometary Organics

What Chemistry Is Rosetta’s Comet Lander Looking For?

The Role Of Minerals In Prebiotic Evolution: Implications For Identifying Worlds With The Potential For Life’s Origin

Gen-EBM: An Energy Balance Model For Terrestrial Planets. Climate Multistability From Snowball To Post-runaway Greenhouse Climates

Astrometric Planet Search Around Southern Ultracool Dwarfs: V. Discovery Of The Exoplanet Candidate PALTA-1 b

Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Active Asteroid (101955) Bennu

SOPHIE And TESS Characterization Of Fourteen TESS Objects Of Interest: Nine Planetary Systems And Five Low-mass Stellar Companions