at 12:12 PM by Mallory Schnell

Spacecraft Will Attempt to Land on Comet

Tomorrow the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft will be the first to attempt landing on a comet. The spacecraft arrived at Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on August 6th, and has been surveying its surface to find a proper landing site since; this is the first time a spacecraft has had to find its own place to touch down. The comet is nearly 20-trillion pounds, 2.5 miles wide, and is “expelling methane, ethanol, and sulfur, which might give it a rotten-egg-like stench” (Wired).

Late tonight/early tomorrow morning the Rosetta spacecraft will be releasing its lander craft, Philae, which will then float freely down toward the surface of the comet for seven hours before hopefully touching down in one piece. Once Philae has landed, it will secure itself to the surface of the comet and commence taking data and snapping pictures to explore the surface and chemical composition of the comet. The lander is expected to continue “doing science” until March.

A live webcast from the ESA’s mission control will begin today at 1:00 PM CST. If all goes well, mission controllers should be notified of a successful landing by 10:02 AM CST tomorrow morning. Did I mention this has been a 10-year, 400-billion mile journey?