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ByGeirMoulson The Associated Press BERLIN The good news: The spacecraft that landed on a comet has begun drill- ing beneath the surface to see what secrets the celes- tial body can reveal. The bad news: Scien- tists at the European Space Agency still don't know ex- actly where the lander is on the comet and are anxiously hoping its batteries hold out long enough for them to get the mining data and adjust the spacecraft's position. It was a race against time Friday for the Philae lander, which on Wednesday be- came the first spacecraft to touch down on a comet. Since then it has sent aston- ishing images from the icy, dusty comet, 67P/Churyu- mov-Gerasimenko, and gen- erated some data from in- struments such as one that measures temperatures. All this is taking place 311 million miles (500 mil- lion kilometers) from Earth on a comet hurtling 41,000 mph (66,000 kph) through space. Material beneath the sur- face of the comet has re- mained almost unchanged for 4.5 billion years, making those mining samples a cos- mic time capsule that scien- tists are eager to study. Mission controllers said Philae was able to bore 25 centimeters (10 inches) into the comet to start collect- ing the samples, but it's un- clear whether it has enough power to deliver any infor- mation on them. The lander has an es- timated 64 hours of bat- tery power but has to rely on solar panels to generate electricity after that. Scien- tists were relieved to learn the batteries still had some juice when the lander re- sumed contact. Communi- cation was re-established, the ESA said in a tweet late Friday night. "Lander now performing a 'lift & turn' of the main body on the landing gear — will last about 10 mins. Telecomm link is good," the agency said in a second tweet. Philae bounced twice on the comet before coming to rest Wednesday after two harpoons that should have anchored it to the surface failed to deploy. Control- lers still haven't been able to pinpoint its position, but photos indicate it's next to a cliff that is largely block- ing sunlight from reaching two of its three solar panels. "Maybe the battery will be empty before we contact again," said Stephan Ula- mec, head of operations for Philae. If the batteries are still running and scientists can extract the scientific data from the craft, they will ro- tate the lander slightly so that it might capture more sunlight. "That would increase the chance that, at a later stage, the lander could wake up again and start talking to us again," Ula- mec said. After the batteries run out, Philae will remain on the comet in a hiber- nation mode for the com- ing months. The comet is on a 6 -year elliptical or- bit around the sun. Phi- lae could wake up again if the comet passes the sun in such a way that its so- lar panels catch more light. Meanwhile, the Rosetta — Philae's mother ship, which is streaking through space in tandem with the comet — will use its 11 in- struments to analyze the comet over the coming months. Scientists hope the $1.6 billion (1.3 billion-euro) project that was launched a decade ago will help them answer questions about the origins of the universe and life on Earth. Communication with the lander is slow, with sig- nals taking more than 28 minutes to travel between Earth and Rosetta. No matter how long Phi- lae keeps talking to them, scientists say they al- ready have gathered huge amounts of data and are calling the expedition a roaring success. SPACE Co me t la nd er s ta rt s dr il li ng ; ba tt er ie s a wo rr y ESA—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS The picture released by the European Space Agency ESA on Wednesday was taken by the ROLIS instrument on Rosetta's Philae lander during descent from a distance of approximately 3km from the 4-kilometer-wide 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. By Susan Haigh The Associated Press NEWTOWN,CONN. Thepar- ents of two of the 20 first- graders killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School say confusion and poor communication have left families of victims with- out services they need and unaware of resources they could tap nearly two years after the massacre. It was just a few weeks ago that the family of one victim learned a case- worker had been assigned to work with them follow- ing their daughter's death, the parents told an advi- sory commission Friday. "It's like pulling teeth to be able to get some infor- mation," Jennifer Hensel, the mother of 6-year-old Avielle Richman told the Sandy Hook Advisory Com- mission. "What is available to us? We have to go knock on doors to ask." Hensel and her husband Jeremy, and Nelba Mar- quez-Greene, the mother of 6-year-old Ana Marquez- Greene, expressed frustra- tion over the communica- tion problems they say have experience since losing their children in the mass shooting that also claimed the lives of six educators. Marquez-Greene said she and her husband, Jimmy, have been relying on their personal health insurance to cover their family's men- tal health care costs. "We feel as though we've fallen off a cliff with no safety net," Hensel testi- fied. Hensel complained that too many decisions were and continue to be made for the victims' families without their input. She said it is her understand- ing that grants awarded to the town include help for the families, but the de- tails have not been com- municated well. The 16-member com- mission was created in January 2013 by Gov. Dan- nel P. Malloy in the wake of the Dec. 14, 2012, shoot- ing. The panel is in the fi- nal stages of piecing to- gether its recommenda- tions for mental health, school safety and gun vi- olence prevention. Scott Jackson, the group's chair- man, said the panel redou- bled its efforts to commu- nicate with the victims' families after some com- plained not enough in- formation was reaching them. A subcommittee helped to arrange Friday's meet- ing, held at the public li- brary in Newtown, to gather additional input from the families. Some have testified previously in Hartford. The parents said better protections need to be in place for victims' families when such incidents occur and asked the commission to recommend a victim-fo- cused, "triage-based pro- tocol" be developed for fu- ture events, ensuring fam- ilies are kept well-informed and shielded from the me- dia in a secured staging area. They also spoke of the need for counseling from trained mental health pro- fessionals with experience in trauma situations. Jer- emy Richman said his fam- ily went through multiple counselors who couldn't emotionally handle the sit- uation. Marquez-Greene, a li- censed marriage and fam- ily therapist, said her fam- ily would have benefited more from someone spend- ing time in her home get- ting to know them and their needs. Instead, she said might get an occa- sional phone call from someone asking if she needed anything. SCHOOL MASSACRE Newtown victims' parents say need still unmet By Luis Alonso Lugo The Associated Press WASHINGTON The U.S. gov- ernment will launch a pro- gram in December to grant refugee status to some peo- ple under the age of 21 who live in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador and whose parents legally reside in the United States. U.S. officials say parents can ask authorities free of charge for refugee status for their children in the Central American countries, which are plagued by poverty and vicious gang violence. The program does not apply to minors who have arrived in the U.S. illegally. Vice President Joe Biden announced the program Fri- day at the Inter-American Development Bank, where the presidents of the three Central American countries will present a plan to stem child migration from their countries. U.S. officials said that children deemed refugees will be able to work imme- diately upon arrival in the U.S., opt for permanent resi- dency the following year and for naturalization five years later. They did not say how long the process of receiving refugee status will take. Central American chil- dren who meet the require- ments will be part of a quota of 4,000 people from Latin America receiving refugee status each fiscal year, of- ficials said. The U.S. quota of Latin America refugees currently consists of Cubans and Colombians. Applicants who don't meet the requirements will be evaluated to see if they can be admitted condition- ally under a non-permanent migratory status that allows them to work temporarily in the U.S. Biden's announcement comes as President Barack Obama is poised to unveil a series of executive actions on immigration that will shield possibly around 5 million immigrants living in the country illegally from de- portation, according to ad- vocates in touch with the White House. House Judiciary Commit- tee Chairman Bob Good- latte, R-Va., criticized the plan, which he described as "government-sanctioned border surge" if Obama acts as expected. "The policy announced today could open Pandora's box, allowing potentially even more people to come to the United States. This is bad policy and undermines the integrity of our immi- gration system," Goodlatte said in a news release. The program aims to be a legal and safe alterna- tive to the long and dan- gerous journey some Cen- tral American children take north to reach the U.S. and to reunite with their par- ents in the U.S. CENTRAL AMERICA NICK OZ — THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC The activist group Puente, accompanied by family and friends facing deportation, holds a rally for deferred action for undocumented immigrants outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Phoenix on Friday. US to grant re fu ge e st at us t o some children 2014 CHRISTMAS RED KETTLES Volunteer Bell Ringers Needed! Becomeapartofthishistorictraditionbyvolunteering your time to help us collect money to provide clothing, food, and other badly needed items for the poor within our community. Church groups, families, groups of friends and indi- viduals are needed and encouraged to volunteer. AllfundsraisedinTehamaCountySTAYinTehama County to meet needs in our own community. Kettles are operated Monday's - Saturday's November 17th thru December 24th Red Bluff, Corning & Los Molinos To volunteer contact: Tehama County Bellringing (530) 527-7648 The Salvation Army Red Bluff Corps | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2014 8 A