The European Space Agency announced that the comet lander Philae has awakened from a seven-month hibernation and managed to communicate with Earth for more than a minute. The probe became the first spacecraft to land on a comet when it touched down on the icy surface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November. After its historic landing Philae managed to conduct experiments and send data to Earth for about 60 hours before its batteries were depleted and it was forced to shut down its systems. Scientists hoped the probe would wake up again as the comet approaches the sun, allowing its solar panels to charge the on-board battery.