Historic Comet Landing
In a cosmic first, the European Space Agency successfully landed the unmanned spacecraft Philae on a speeding comet.
-
1 of 18
Rosetta’s lander, Philae, stands safely on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in this combination photo released Thursday. Philae became the first spacecraft to land on a comet when it touched down Wednesday after a 4 billion-mile, decade-long journey managed by the European Space Agency.
ESA/Rosetta/Philae/AP
-
2 of 18
The Rosetta mission crew celebrates Philae's landing at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, on Wednesday. The Philae lander, launched from the Rosetta spacecraft, is a mini laboratory that will gather data on the comet.
ESA/Getty Images
-
3 of 18
The comet, known as comet 67P in shorthand, zooms through space on Aug. 8 in this photo taken from about 50 miles away.
ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM
-
4 of 18
Comet 67P is nearly 2.5 miles wide. Here's how it compares to some of Earth's landmarks.
ESA
-
5 of 18
ESA's comet-chasing Rosetta mission spent much of the second half of October orbiting comet 67P from about 6 miles away. In reality, the comet is extremely dark – blacker than coal. These black-and-white images are gray-scaled according to the relative brightness of the features observed.
ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM
-
6 of 18
A view of comet 67P on Oct. 18 from a distance of 9.8 km, or about 6 miles.
ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM
-
7 of 18
Milestones from Rosetta's journey through the solar system.
ESA
-
8 of 18
Journalists film near a giant screen featuring Andrea Accomazzo, center, Rosetta flight operations director, celebrating with European Space Agency scientists after the announcement of the first-ever landing on a comet Wednesday.
Daniel Roland/AFP/Getty Images
-
9 of 18
Five landing sites were considered, seen here in images taken Aug. 16 from a little over 60 miles away.
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
-
10 of 18
French President Francois Hollande, front, fourth from right, wears 3-D glasses as he attends a broadcast of the comet 67P landing mission on Wednesday in Paris.
Jacques Brinon/AFP/Getty Images
-
11 of 18
The Rosetta probe, left, and Philae lander are pictured above comet 67P in a photo illustration provided by the European Space Agency.
ESA/Getty Images
-
12 of 18
A four-image montage taken by Rosetta's navigation camera shows comet 67P's terrain on Oct. 15.
ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM
-
13 of 18
Rosetta's navigational camera snaps an image of comet 67P from a little less than 5 miles away on Oct. 18.
ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM
-
14 of 18
A four-image montage taken on Oct. 18.
ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM
-
15 of 18
A two-image montage shows a close-up of the region containing Philae's primary landing site, located at the head of comet 67P, on Sept. 14.
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
-
16 of 18
Comet 67P travels through a star field in the constellation Ophiuchus between March 27 and May 4, as it appears to develop a "dust coma." This image was shot as the Rosetta closed the gap between it and the comet from about 3 million to 1 million miles. Pictured at top left is the globular cluster M107.
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
-
17 of 18
A view of comet 67P on Oct. 28.
ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM
-
18 of 18
The European Space Agency team provides an update on the mission's landing sites from the ESA headquarters in Paris on Sept. 15.
S. Corvaja/ESA
-
Next:
Photos: Apollo 11's Moon Landing, 45 Years Later
