16 Jun 2015

Hello Earth - can you hear me?

From Nine To Noon, 9:08 am on 16 June 2015

Philae wakes up
Rosetta's lander Philae wakes up from hibernation. Image: ESA.

When Matt Taylor heard that comet lander Philae has finally woken up after 7 months he was ecstatic.

Philae has managed to build enough charge from the sun to contact Earth from the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

Philae became the first spacecraft to land on a comet when it was dropped on to the surface of one by its mothership, Rosetta, last November.

Dr Taylor spoke to Nine to Noon from backstage at the Metal Hammer Magazine awards, where he had just received the "Spirit of Metal" award.