An Historic Day! Probe Lands on Comet 317 Million Miles Away

What started as a journey 10 years ago has reached an exciting climax as the Philae probe landed on Comet 67/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 317 million miles from Earth.  The European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt confirmed that the probe had successfully touched down on the comet and began transmitting.  The signals took 28 minutes to travel at the speed of light the 317 million mile distance.

“The cold gas thruster on top of the lander does not appear to be working so we will have to rely fully on the harpoons at touchdown,” says Stephan Ulamec, Philae Lander Manager at the DLR German Aerospace Center.  “We’ll need some luck not to land on a boulder or a steep slope.”

But, luck was with them as the harpoons fired and the probe touched down successfully.  NBC has video graphics (below) explaining how the ESOC’s probe was able to make this historic landing.

 CNN also has video of the event, (see below).