The Philae lander hit the two-and-a-half-mile-wide comet at a walking pace, a bit more than 2 mph. A cold gas thruster was programmed to fire at touchdown to help push the lander down while two harpoons shot into the soil to anchor the spacecraft in place.
After Rosetta's ten year journey — capped off with the smooth 7 hour descent of its Philae lander — an explosion of elation went up in the European Space Agency's mission control center in Darmstadt, Germany. At around
This artist's concept of the Rosetta mission's Philae lander on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, is from an animation showing the upcoming deployment of Philae and its subsequent science operations on
After Rosetta's 10-year journey — capped off with the smooth 7-hour descent of its Philae lander — an explosion of elation went up in the European Space Agency's mission control center in Darmstadt, Germany. At around
The European Space Agency's Philae lander touched down on a comet more than 300 million miles from Earth on Wednesday, completing its 10-year journey. The historic landing, scientists hope, will provide them with insights on the origins of our solar