lander
先ほど取り上げられた記事から単語を拾います。気になった単語は"lander"です。『Wisdom英和辞典第三版』（三省堂）によると「（月などへの）着陸船」という意味がありました。ODには，"A spacecraft designed to land on the surface of a planet or moon"と定義されております。宇宙関連の記事で用いる言葉なのですね。（Ume）
Rosetta: Scientists await news of 'bouncing' comet probe
As early data came back from the instruments, one team could see that the lander had sunk about 4cm (1.5 inches) into the surface, suggesting a relatively soft top layer.
But shortly after, engineers saw that the harpoons, designed to fasten the spacecraft to the 4km-wide (2.5 miles) ball of ice and dust, had not fired as planned.
Waiting to resume contact
Lander project manager Stephan Ulamec told the BBC that the team would now have to wait until Thursday morning before they could say more about the probe.
However, he said the probe appeared to be in a stable position at the time of the last radio contact.
Rosetta, which relayed its communications to Earth throughout the descent, has now moved out of radio "visibility".
If this connection is re-established on cue on Thursday, the team will feel much more confident.
