Philae localization from CONSERT/Rosetta measurement

Abstract On 12 November 2014 at 15:34 UTC, after a 7-h descent, the Philae lander made contact with the surface of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/CG) in the centre of the intended landing zone. Following the failure of its anchoring systems, it bounced and continued to fly ballistically. A couple of hours later, telemetry transmitted to Rosetta showed that Philae was stabilized on the surface and working properly although its precise and final location was and still is not known ( Biele et al, 2015 ). From the morning of 13 November 2014, CONSERT data enabled an initial estimate to be made of Philae’s location based on signals propagated through the 67P/CG nucleus. This rough location was then refined through three sets of measurements carried out during periods of direct visibility between Rosetta and Philae during the Philae’s First Science Sequence (FSS) on 13 and 14 November. This paper presents these measurements and the estimate of the final position of Philae in November 2014.