Philae Spacecraft Makes Historic Landing on Comet

[Steven_Draker]

Rosetta mission’s safe landing gives scientists their first chance to ride a comet and study close up what happens as it gets closer to the sun

 

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The signal broke a seven-hour wait of agonizing intensity and sparked scenes of jubilation at the European Space Agency’s mission control in Darmstadt. The team in charge of the Rosetta mission achieved what at times seemed an impossible task by landing a robotic spacecraft on a comet for the first time in history.

 

The moment the tension broke came shortly after 1600 GMT when the Philae called home. “We are there. We are sitting on the surface. Philae is talking to us,” said a jubilant Stephan Ulamec, Philae lander manager at the DLR German space centre. “We are on the comet.”

 

more: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/12/rosetta-mission-philae-historic-landing-comet