Philae comet lander likely dead now, scientists say

European scientists have givenup hope of restoring contact with space probe Philae, whichsuccessfully landed on a comet in a pinpoint operation only tolose power because its solar-driven batteries were in theshade.

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) said on Friday it suspectsPhilae is now covered in dust and too cold to operate.

"Unfortunately, the probability of Philae re-establishingcontact with our team at the DLR Lander Control Center is almostzero, and we will no longer be sending any commands," StephanUlamec, Philae Project Manager of the DLR, said in a statement.

Philae came to rest on a comet in November 2014 in what wasconsidered a remarkable feat of precision space travel. But itclosed down soon after because it was in the shade and could notbe recharged.

The probe woke up in June as the comet approached the sun,giving scientists hope that the lander could complete someexperiments that it had not done before its solar-poweredbatteries ran out.

But the lander has not made contact with its Rosetta orbitersince July 9, and a last-ditch attempt to re-establish contactwith the robotic lab has failed.

"It would be very surprising if we received a signal now,"Ulamec said.

While the project team believes that Philae is likelyice-free, the solar panels that recharge its batteries are
probably covered with dust.

In addition, night-time temperatures can now fall below -180 C(-292F) as comet67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko movesaway from the sun, which is muchcolder than Philae was designed to withstand.

While Philae did not have as much time as initially hopedafter landing for experiments, information it has collected is
reshaping thinking about comets, and it has been a useful lessonfor designing future missions.

• Philaelander finds complex organic molecules like acetone on comet

Scientists expect to get a final glimpse of the lander inthe European summer, when the Rosetta spacecraft snaps somepictures during close fly-bys, before landing on the cometitself when its mission ends in September.

And in around six years, Philae and Rosetta will near theEarth again when the comet returns to circle the sun again.

• Rosetta spacecraft finds massive sinkholes on comet's surface

• Molecular oxygen found on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Rosetta is a mission of the European Space Agency, withcontributions from its member states and U.S. space agency NASA.The Philae lander was provided by a consortium headed by theDLR.