Philae comet lander wakes up
I wish Europe weren't so nuke-averse.  The lander should have been powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), not solar panels.  Then it would've had uninterrupted power for years and it could have been returning scientific data continuously since November.<p>Most of the US's long distance space probes have been powered with RTGs, which don't put nearly the same kinds of limitations on mission profiles.  The New Horizons mission to Pluto, for example, is powered with 10.9 kg of plutonium that provides a steady 228 watts and enough heat to prevent the kind of cold-related damage we fear happened on Philae.  That mission is so far from the Sun that it wouldn't even be possible with only solar panels.