Time has come to wave goodbye to history-making robotic lander Philae as last efforts to establish contact with the lander are unfortunately close to zero, announced the German Aerospace Center (DLR) on Friday.

The DLR, which is in charge of this mission, said that the Philae lander now faces eternal hibernation, while the bigger Rosetta mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) is still orbiting the 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko comet.

The probe, which registered its name in record books by achieving the first-ever soft landing on a comet on 12 November 2014, is no more in contact with the DLR team here on earth, but it has already helped scientists by sending crucial information about the comet. The scientific community believes the lander has paved the way for future space exploration.

“It was the first time that a lander and its instruments were landed on a comet and provided data directly measured on a comet’s surface”, said DLR’s Manuela Braun.

Before announcing death of Philae, the DLR sent a signal to the probe in an attempt to re-establishing contact with it, but all went in vain. According to the ESA, conditions on the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet are becoming increasingly hostile as it is moving far from the sun.

Currently, the Comet 67P is about 350 million kilometers from the sun, which has made it a frozen space object. As the sunlight is not reaching the comet, it has become impossible to re-establishing a connection with the probe.

Frozen comet isn’t the only problem Philae is facing. It is currently on shaded location and likely covered in dust. Temperature on the comet is too cold for the probe’s system to function, according to latest ESA report.