Philae was dropped on to the surface of Comet 67P by mothership, Rosetta, last November.
It worked for 60 hours before going to sleep when its solar-powered battery ran flat but the president of France’s CNES space agency said the comet had sparked into life.
Jean-Yves Le Gall said: “We received new signals from (Philae) for a period of two minutes, as well as 40 seconds worth of data.”
The space probe’s Twitter account, run by the Lander Control Center LCC in Cologne, announced the revival, tweeting after a seven-month silence: “Hello Earth! Can you hear me?
The Philae probe has made history by sending back the first ever photo from a comet. Scientists behind the Rosetta mission have managed to re-establish contact with the probe but fears remain over how secure the probe is.
Here is an insight to this mission, which is the first of its kind.
European Space Agency’s Philae made history on November 12, by successfully landing on the icy, dusty surface of a speeding comet, 67/P Churyumov-Gersimenko. Europe’s Rosetta space probe was launched in 2004 with the aim of studying the comet and learning more about the origins of the universe.
Here is an insight to this mission, which is the first of its kind.
The picture of the Philae lander released by the European Space Agency ESA on November 12, 2014, was taken by Rosetta’s OSIRIS system shortly after its separation from the mother spaceship.
The picture released by the European Space Agency ESA on November 12, 2014, was taken by Rosetta’s lander Philae shortly after its separation from the mother spaceship with the lander’s CIVA-P imaging system and captures one of Rosetta’s 14 meter-long solar wings.
With the mission’s safe landing, it gives scientists their first chance to ride a comet and study close up what happens as it gets closer to the sun. (Pictured) Scientists reacting in the main control room at the European Space Agency during the first unmanned spacecraft Philae landed on a comet on November 12, 2014.
After a decade of hard work and over US$ 950 million spent, the mission has been successful so far.
The Rosetta space probe was carried into space by the Ariane V rocket in March, 2004, from Kourou, French Guyana.
A picture of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from a distance of 285 kilometres, taken by OSIRIS narrow-angle camera in Rosetta spacecraft.
The comet is 300 million miles away and ESA director general Jean-Jacques Dordain had told a delighted audience: “This is a big step for human civilisation.”
But just a few days later, the agency said all systems on board the craft had shut down and the comet probe, roughly the size of a dishwasher, had entered as “possibly long silence”.
“Prior to falling silent, the lander was able to transmit all science data gathered during the first science sequence,” said Stephan Ulamec from the European Space Operations Centre.
“This machine performed magnificently under tough conditions, and we can be fully proud of the incredible scientific success Philae has delivered.”