European robot probe Philae made first historic landing on comet descending from mother-ship. The European robot probe Philae made the first historic landing.
The lander touched down on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at about 1605 GMT.
There cheers and hugs at the control room in Darmstadt, Germany, after the signal confirmed.
European robot probe Philae made first historic landing on comet descending from mother-ship.
Philae (shown in this artist’s impression) should offer fresh insights into the origins of our Solar System
There were cheers and hugs at the control room in Darmstadt, Germany, after the signal was confirmed.
It designed to shine a light on some of the mysteries of these icy relics from the formation of the Solar System.
European robot probe Philae made first historic landing on comet descending from mother-ship.
The landing caps a 6.4 billion-kilometre journey that begun a decade ago.
This a big step for human civilisation,” said Jean-Jacques Dordain, the director-general of the European Space Agency (Esa).
Shortly after the touchdown was confirmed, Stephan Ulamec, the mission’s lander chief, said: “Philae talking to us… we on the comet.”
The robot was due to deploy harpoons to fasten itself to the 2.5-mile-wide ball of ice and dust.
Scientists will use Philae to take pictures of the comet’s landscape and to analyse its chemical composition.
They are hoping the its surface materials will hold fresh insights into the origins of our Solar System more than 4.5 billion years ago.
There cheers and hugs at the control room in Darmstadt, Germany, after the signal confirmed.
It designed to shine a light on some of the mysteries of these icy relics from the formation of the Solar System.
The landing caps a 6.4 billion-kilometre journey that begun a decade ago.
“This is a big step for human civilisation,” said Jean-Jacques Dordain, the director-general of the European Space Agency (Esa).
Shortly after the touchdown was confirmed, Stephan Ulamec, the mission’s lander chief, said: “Philae is talking to us… we are on the comet.”
European robot probe Philae made first historic landing on comet descending from mother-ship.
The lander sank about 4cm into the surface.
But scientists said the harpoons designed to fasten the spacecraft to the 2.5-mile-wide ball of ice and dust did not fire as intended.
They will now decide whether to re-fire the anchors.
Earlier, a thruster system designed to push the robot down into the surface of the comet also failed.
Part of the difficulty is the very low gravity on the 4km-wide ice mountain.
Philae needs to be wary of simply bouncing back into space.
The nature and strength of the surface materials on the surface are unknown.
Philae could have alighted upon terrain whose constitution is anything between rock hard and puff-powder soft.
If all continues to proceed well, Philae should take pictures of the comet’s landscape and to analyse its chemical composition.
They are hoping its surface materials will hold fresh insights into the origins of our Solar System more than 4.5 billion years ago.
One theory holds that comets were responsible for delivering water to the planets.
Another idea is that they could have “seeded” the Earth with the chemistry needed to help kick-start life.
