Rosetta comet landing day 3: live - Telegraph.co.uk

• Rosetta mission: What do you do when your landing probe bounces into a crater?

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11.20 So, I've just got off the phone from talking to Dr Matt Taylor, the project scientist at Rosetta (yes, he of the tattoo and dubious dress sense fame) and he tells me they have just sent commands telling Philae to begin drilling into the comet. Remember it takes 28 minutes for signals from Earth to reach the probe so the experiment should begin any moment. We've all got our fingers crossed for this one. The lander is perched precariously on two legs so activating the drill could tip it over completely.

Dr Taylor also tells me that if the probe powers down there is a slim chance that it could spring back to life when the comet moves closer to the Sun. However by then, it is likely that the solar panels will be covered in dust and debris. So this is really a last ditch attempt to get samples back before Philae powers down. Without the samples it is unlikely the mission will find out whether amino acids are present in the comet's nucleus and, therefore, could have seeded life on Earth.

We have just got contact back with the lander. We have issued the commands to the drill to begin the next step of the opration. We are still trying to find exactly what is going on. We have only just got back in touch with Philae so we are trying to work out what happened overnight.

We deployed MUPUS, the hammer, so we want to find out if Philae has moved because of that.

We still are not sure where Philae is. Rosetta is using it's cameras to look for it, but it's a bit like Where's Wally?

Dr Matt Taylor, project scientist at the Rosetta mission

10.30 Data is also coming back from APXS (Alpha X-ray Spectrometer) which has been lowered to within 4 cm of the ground, to detect alpha particles and X-rays. The results will show the elementary composition of the comet's surface.

10.25 They love an acronym in the Rosetta mission. The MUPUS experiment (Multi-Purpose Sensors for Surface and Sub-Surface Science) is equipped with a hammer that will tap a device that resembles an ice-pick into the comet. Once it's penetrated the surface, the device will collect samples of the comet's surface. They're calling the event "ThePinPrick." Perhaps because it may all end in tears.

^{Here is a video showing how the MUPUS device works}

MUPUS

10.20 Finally some good news. Philae is back in touch with Earth and it seems the probe has been busy hammering away at the comet during the night and sampling the dust. Data is now streaming back from the MUPUS and APXS experiments.

Prof Chris Lintott at Oxford University has confirmed that data is coming in from Philae and his team has the first temperature readings from the surface. He says that the drill has not yet been deployed.

9.35 The BBC is reporting that Philae will begin drilling today to try and collect samples before its battery runs out. I'll bring you more details when I have confirmed that with the team over in Germany. We knew this was a probable outcome

9.20 Want to hang out with the Rosetta scientists? Hey, who doesn't! Well, they will be hosting a Google hangout at 1pm today. So think of some questions. More details shortly.

9.00 Morning everyone. Sarah here again with updates on the Rosetta mission.

So, quick recap. The European Space Agency landed a probe on a comet. (Pause for cheers and whooping) But then, disaster, the probe bounced away from the landing site into a crater (Pause for glum head scratching) And even worse, the probe only has 60 hours of battery power which is due to run out around 8pm tonight.

But it's going to be ok (possibly) The ESA has some of the smartest people in the world working on this problem. And, after all, it's not rocket science. The rocket science happened ten years ago.

The mission has still been an incredible feat of science and engineering. Let's have a look at some of the amazing pictures that have come back so far:

^{This image sums up the Philae problem - the cross-hair shows where the probe should have landed and the box where it probably did}

^{Here is little Philae, alone in the dark, one leg in the air}

^{It was all going so well. This image was taken by Philae when it first detached from Rosetta on Wednesday}

^{And this is a picture taken by Rosetta as the probe floated down, landing gear already sticking out}