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Philae broke hearts earlier this month when, in its dying moments, it managed to send back valuable data from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

But, all is not lost.

Rosetta engineers claim the plucky probe could come back to life as soon as March next year, as comet 67P gets closer to the sun.

The probe is currently only receiving around an hour of sunlight during the comet's 12-hour day, with its batteries frozen in temperatures of -170°C.

Back from the dead: Philae (pictured) broke hearts earlier this month when, in its dying moments, it managed to send back valuable data from comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Now, Rosetta engineers claim it could come back to life in March 2015 as comet 67P gets closer to the sun

Previous estimates simply said the probe could awaken within 'the next few months', but now a more precise timeframe has been revealed.  

In a recent Reddit 'ask me anything' session, engineers at mission control said: 'We expect to have enough energy to boot around March next year.

'Then Philae needs to be heated until we can think of starting to charge the battery.

The batteries were meant to be recharged by solar panels, but because Philae hopped a couple of times after the first touchdown, it ended up in shadow.

'It is like trying to power your house with solar panels when you live in Alaska just below the Arctic Circle during the winter,' said Michael Maibaum, Philae systems engineer.

'Welcome to a comet!': Earlier this month, Esa tweeted this remarkable picture from comet 67P confirming that Philae is successfully on the surface. It bounced twice before landing in almost complete darkness

Engineers claim the seasonal change toward spring in Philae's hemisphere will bring the probe into much more sunlight over the next few months.

That, coupled with the fact that the comet is getting closer to the sun, should warm up the batteries enough to keep them charged.

Stephan Ulamec, manager of the Philae lander, added that he was 'very optimistic' that it would soon wake up.

The amount of science that the team will be able to do will depends on how long it takes to recharge the batteries, he said.

PHILAE COULD HELP HUMANITY 'MOVE OFF THIS PLANET', SAYS NASA CHIEF

The historic touchdown of Philae on a comet could be big step toward 'moving off this planet' and 'taking' the entire solar system

The historic touchdown of Philae on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko could be big step toward 'moving off this planet' and 'taking' the entire solar system.

This is according to Nasa's planetary science head, Jim Green, who said the solar system is now in reach of wider human exploration.

The space agency is hoping to send humans to Mars in the 2030s, and data from Rosetta's mission could help make that a reality by revealing more planets in our solar system.

'How audacious! How exciting!' Green said, after the landing was made. 'The solar system is mankind's - this mission is the first step to take it.

'It's ours… It's these steps that will lead us beyond this planet and on to Mars and out into the solar system.'

'I truly believe that a single planet species will not survive long. It's our destiny to move off this planet.'

Nasa described yesterday's landing as 'a great day for space exploration.'

'We congratulate Esa on their successful landing on a comet today,' said John Grunsfeld.

'This achievement represents a breakthrough moment in the exploration of our solar system and a milestone for international cooperation.'

Scientists hope that samples drilled out from the comet will unlock details about how the planets - and possibly even life - evolved.

Comets date back to the formation of the solar system some 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists suspect impacting comets delivered water to early Earth.

During the AMA, the team also said one that one of the biggest limitations of the mission was using decades old technology.

'The biggest drawback for Philae was the limited computer power and mass memory,' said Ekkehard Kührt, science manager for Rosetta.

'What we could install there - 800 MHz CPU and some memory - seems to be from another world today'. 

The Rosetta probe, which was carrying Philae, launched into space in 2004, using the gravity of Earth and Mars to slingshot its way towards comet 67P.

It chased comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko through space for more than ten years.

This image, annotated by Emily Lakdawalla from The Planetary Society, shows the precarious position the lander is currently in. At the top the view into space can be seen. One of the feet is obscured from view. The bottom left image is the direction that the Mupus instrument was deployed to take readings from the surface

Despite this, after a four billion mile (6.5 billion km) journey, the probe successfully released Philae from its grip to land on the comet, travelling at 1 metre (40 inches) per second relative to the comet.

But when it first made contact with the surface it failed to fire harpoons that would have kept it attached to the comet.

This resulted in it bouncing to a height of 0.62 miles (1km) above the comet before again landing on the surface. It then bounced again, but to a much lower altitude.

Scientists recently said they had detected what might be complex carbon compounds on the surface of the comet the craft landed on two weeks ago.

The team in Darmstadt, Germany, are pictured here celebrating as news of Philae's separation from Rosetta. Scientists hope the £1 billion ($1.6 billion) project will solve some of the greatest puzzles in science - including the origins of life on Earth

The team leader for the Ptolemy instrument, Professor Ian Wright, told BBC News: 'We can say with absolute certainty that we saw a very large signal of what are basically organic (carbon) compounds.

'There is a rich signal there. It is not simple. It is not like there are two compounds; there are clearly a lot of things there - a lot of peaks. Sometimes a complicated compound can give a lot of peaks.'

Scientists hope the £1 billion ($1.6 billion) project will solve some of the greatest puzzles in science - including the origins of life on Earth.

Open University Professor Ian Wright, who helped create Ptolemy, said: 'The idea that comets may have brought the building blocks of life to Earth is one of the reasons why we want to study them.'

Professor Stanley Cowley, planetary scientist at the University of Leicester, added: 'It is an interesting relic from that otherwise inaccessible epoch.'