Page 41 - Italy In Space
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Interplanetary Probes [8]
November 12, 2014. Philae probe soft-lands on 67P, achieving the first touchdown on a comet in history.
Italy provided two Philae‟s instruments: SD2 (Sample Drill and Distribution - Galileo Avionica) and the high
performance Solar Array (Politecnics of Milan) providing enough electric power even at a distance from Sun
exceeding 2 AU. Commemorative cover cancelled in Darmstadt, Germany where ESA’s Space Operations
Centre supports the mission and that day confirmed the comet touchdown at 16:03 GMT.
March 14, 2016. Launch of Exomars from Baikonur. This will be the first European spacecraft to land on the
Mars surface. Commemorative Launch cover cancelled in Baikonur with standard postmark "Federal Unitary
Enterprise Baikonur Communication Inform" and “Proton” special postmark.
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