The European Space Agency (ESA) reports that Philae, who has been demolished on comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko, woke up and came into contact with the Earth.
Philae, the first spacecraft to land on a comet (67P) from the Rosetta mothership, last November. Worked for 60 hours before they started to empty batteries of which they charge with solar energy.
The comet has since moved closer to the Sun and Philae seems to have been able to collect enough energy to operate again, as reported by BBC's Jonathan Amos.
[tweet_embed id = 610047412036595712]A Twitter account associated with Philae's scientific team has begun to send messages again:
“Hello Earth! Can you hear me? ”
In its blog, ESA reports that Philae came into contact with Earth, via Rosetta, for 85 seconds on Saturday after a "hibernation" that had fallen since November.
“Philae is very well. He has a temperature modes -35C and has 24 watts available," said Philae Program Director Mr. Stephan Ulamec.
Scientists report that they are now waiting for the next contact.
ESA scientist Mark McCaughrean told the BBC: "After seven months, and to be honest we were not sure it would happen - there are too many happy people across Europe right now."
Philae is currently transporting large amounts of data that scientists were hoping to download with a contact again, he said.
"I think we are optimistic and now that he has woken up he will have collected several months of scientific data and resources," he added.
For the first time, mankind will be able to place a stowaway in a comet that can describe what will happen as it constantly heats up on its journey into space, he adds.
Philae is designed to analyze the ice and rock fragments that make up the comet.
Professor Monica Grady told the BBC that scientists are hoping to be able to conduct experiments to reveal whether comets were the source of life on Earth.
Comets contain a lot water and carbon, and "these kinds of molecules are responsible for life," he says
"What we are trying to find out is whether the building blocks of life, that is, the water and the carbon molecules it carries, were actually delivered to Earth by comets."
