ILS says a spare Briz-M gyro unit in Baikonur is being swapped for the faulty one, which was removed and sent back to the manufacturer last week.

"I know I have done nothing special to be the first Italian woman to fly to space," said European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

Ahead of merger, ATK assessed “political risks” of Orbital's new engine choice.

As the probe's last science data was relayed to Earth Nov. 15, its power rapidly depleted.

The lander lost contact with ground controllers early this morning, but not before they sent commands to rotate the probe's solar panels to glean additional sunlight.

With the clock ticking, mission managers weigh a plan to shift Philae's position and gain more exposure to the sun.

"Figuring out where high energy neutrinos come from is one of the biggest problems in astrophysics today," said Yang Bai, University of Wisconsin at Madison physicist.