The astronomers of the European Space Agency released an audio recording of the Philae space module landing on the surface of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
This is the first record of the contact between a spacecraft and the surface of a comet in the history of mankind. It was made by the sensors of the module. It is reported that on the audio, one can hear the very first moment of contact of the apparatus with the comet.
The digital sound processing was minimal. If we evaluate the landing by the sound, it seems quite soft. Earlier, it was reported that the drill of Philae penetrated several inches into the upper layer of the comet"s nucleus. After that, there was a collision with a solid, possibly icy surface. Problems with the number of harpoons led to the fact that the machine had to land three times.
Despite the short duration of the recording, the DLR experts point out that its analysis can help to determine the composition of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, as well as the structure of its surface.
The project of the European Space Agency Rosetta was launched on March 2, 2004. The descent module Philae disconnected from the Rosetta probe on November 12, 2014. Since it landed in the shadow of the cliff, solar batteries of the module quickly exhausted. At the same time, before switching to sleep mode on November 15, it managed to convey important information to the Earth.
Recently on the comet, the spacecraft discovered molecules that allegedly participated in the origin of life.