ESA will begin transmitting commands to Philae "blindly" on thursday, listening whether it will reply. For now for one week.
According to the lander crew, Philae is currently estimated to receive twice as much sunlight as immediately after landing. The lander is hardwired to first pipe any energy it gets from its solar panels into heating itself until it reaches an interior temperature of about -45°C (= -50° F). If it reaches this temperature and receives above 5.5 Watt electric power, it will turn itself on and charge its batteries; it will then also turn on its communications unit every 30 minutes to listen for commands from Rosetta. If it gets over 19 Watt electric power, it will be able to perform two-way communications (i.e. turn on its transmitter). In theory, Philae can execute commands sent to it even before this though.
According to the lander crew, Philae is currently estimated to receive twice as much sunlight as immediately after landing. The lander is hardwired to first pipe any energy it gets from its solar panels into heating itself until it reaches an interior temperature of about -45°C (= -50° F). If it reaches this temperature and receives above 5.5 Watt electric power, it will turn itself on and charge its batteries; it will then also turn on its communications unit every 30 minutes to listen for commands from Rosetta. If it gets over 19 Watt electric power, it will be able to perform two-way communications (i.e. turn on its transmitter). In theory, Philae can execute commands sent to it even before this though.
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