Philae comet probe given one last shake to continue its search for life

Rosetta mission probe will be told to crank up a flywheel in a bid to shake dust off its solar panels so it can continue work on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Scientists have begun work on a last-chance manoeuvre to contact the long-silent Philae probe, dropped more than a year ago onto the surface of a comet hurtling through the Earth's solar system.

Part of the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission, the probe has yielded spectacular scientific results - and a few moments of high drama - since its near crash-landing onto comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November 2014.