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Is it completely out of the question to reflect light onto Philae using Rosetta (once they locate the probe of course)?



That sounds too complicated for the amount of light you'd get, although I get your point - I'm sometimes surprised by the light/heat that reaches my greenhouse from a reflection on a window as the sun is setting.

On a related note, though, perhaps future missions will transmit power via laser rather than relying on solar panels. Of course solar panels have also had 10 years to improve since the mission was launched...


I agree that it sounds like a math/astrophysics/trajectory nightmare, but I remind myself that is the kind of thing these agencies are really good at. Remember, they just shot a comet some 400 million miles away.


Or future missions could just stick an RTG on it, right?



Those sound distinctly non-technical.




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