European Space Agency tweets first pictures of Philae Lander's 'bouncy' touchdown on comet

European Space Agency has published the first ever pictures of Philae Lander's probe moments after its initial touchdown.

Read: European Space Agency makes history by successfully landing space probe Philae on comet

The solar-powered Philae lander bounced a mile back into space following its first contact with comet 67P and successfully landed a few minutes later over half a mile away from its intended spot. The photographs were unveiled on the Esa's Rosetta Blog, showing a few pale pixels - thought to be Philae - accompanied by a dark patch, which experts conclude is its shadow and the researchers have spent hours analysing and reviewing the footage before their conclusion was made public.

.@Philae2014 + shadow visible @ESA_Rosetta NAVCAM images from first touchdown! http://t.co/Su8CdLLOUu #CometLanding http://t.co/hKAusnzbyx

— ESA (@esa) November 16, 2014

Philae has been returning pictures and other data to earth via the Rosetta satellite, but until now scientists have not had access to images of the probe itself after landing.

The difficult landing damaged the craft and its current location means the battery that powers it may not be able to recharge. It is currently in stand-by mode after running out of power. However, before that happened engineers attempted to maximise the possibility of recharging its power supply by sending a command to reposition the lander.

This involved raising Philae by 4 cm and rotating its main housing by 35% in order to ensure the largest solar panel catches the most light.