Paris – “It’s extraordinary and exciting: everything is going as planned”, commented Roberto Battiston, president of the Italian Space Agency, in an interview with La Repubblica on the signal sent after several months by the lander Philae from Comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko. “It’s really a triumph,” emphasized Battiston, “because, despite the incidents, our scientists were able to predict what would happen and operate Philae again. The right environmental conditions on the comet only appeared a few days ago, and we were expecting the lander to awaken.” And there’s a lot of Italy on the comet. “Philae – continued the president – was developed by a consortium led by ISA together with German and French space agencies. And the Rosetta mission features Italian equipment on board, including the drill that will pierce the ice of the comet. Again, space gives us another reason to be proud of our research and our technology. ” (9Colonne)
