Philae's comet landing 'thud' recorded

Scientists have released a brief recording of the sound that Europe's space probe Philae made when it became the first to land on a comet last week.

The two-second recording features a short, sharp thud as the lander touched down about 311 million miles (500 million kilometers) from Earth on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's icy surface.

• On mobile and can't hear the sound? Listen here.

0:01Philae lander's touchdown sound

Sound recorded by Philae lander's feet as it landed on Comet 67P

Martin Knapmeyer of the German Aerospace Center, DLR, said Thursday that sound was recorded by instruments in the lander's feet.

Scientists are carefully analyzing data collected during Philae's 60-hour operation on the comet, which already yielded evidence of plentiful frozen ice and organic moleculeson 67P. Organic molecules arecarbon-based chemical compounds that include many of the building blocks of life, such as proteins and DNA.

• Comet 67P'song' captured by Rosetta spacecraft

The Rosetta team hopesto reawaken the lander from its hibernation in the coming months, provided its solar panels generate enough energy as the comet nears the sun.