(Image: ESA/ATG medialab)
So that鈥檚 what landing on a comet sounds like. Researchers at the German Aerospace Centre have just released a short clip recorded by the European Space Agency鈥檚 Philae probe as it first made contact with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko last week.
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The recording, made by the lander鈥檚 Cometary Acoustic Surface Sounding Experiment (CASSE), is just 2聽seconds long, but contains a lot of scientific information. CASSE detects vibrations through the lander鈥檚 feet, which can be converted into sound. It suggests that the comet鈥檚 surface has soft layer several centimetres thick on top of a much harder, icy layer. That is in line with the findings of another of Philae鈥檚 instruments, MUPUS, which broke while attempting to hammer through the surface
Philae landed on the comet three times on 12 November. This recording is from the first landing, and confirms that the spacecraft did not immediately return to the surface of the comet after bouncing.
