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Philae (spacecraft) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Philae lander (transparent bg)
Illustration of Philae

Philae (before known as RoLand) is an ESA lander spacecraft. It went with the Rosetta spacecraft. It landed on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenkoon on 12 November 2014 to analyze it.

The name Philae was chosen through a contest organized by ESA, won by fifteen year old Serena Olga Vismara from Milan. The name comes from the orbiter name, already defined as Rosetta, which is the name of the stele that allowed Jean-François Champollion to understand ancient Egypt hieroglyphics. In order to complete the translation, he needed to use also the monuments on the island of Philae, the same way Philae lander will help to complete the work of the Rosetta lander.


Images for kids

  • Rosetta's Philae on Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko

    Depiction of Philae on Churyumov-Gerasimenko

  • Signal received from Rosetta (12055070794)

    Rosetta signal received at ESOC in Darmstadt, Germany (20 January 2014)

  • ESA Rosetta NAVCAM Agilkia landing site on comet 67P 20141106 mosaic

    Philae's intended landing site Agilkia (Site J)

  • 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko - Rosetta (32755885495)

    Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko in March 2015 as imaged by Rosetta in true colour

  • Rosetta and Philae (crop)

    Rosetta and Philae

  • Atterrisseur-Philae-15494442575 099c1ff083 o

    Philae's instruments

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Philae (sonda espacial) para niños

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