Philae Lander’s Bumpy Comet Ride: A Historic, Unforeseen Journey

November 12, 2014, marked a pivotal moment in space exploration: the European Space Agency’s Philae lander achieved the first-ever soft landing on a comet.

However, what was intended to be a stable scientific operation turned into a series of unexpected “hops” and a period of lost contact, with the module disappearing from view for nearly two years.

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