Story highlights
Images show area on comet where scientists believe Philae probe landed
"Rosetta is trying to answer the very big questions about the history of our solar system," ESA scientist says
Experts are excited about what kind of information Philae will deliver
Philae has nine experiments including drill to sample the surface, onboard oven
(CNN) —
Scientists who pulled off a huge achievement in space exploration showed numerous black-and-white images Thursday of where they think the Philae probe landed on a comet 310 million miles from Earth.
Many at the European Space Agency have gone without sleep in the last few days, nervously anticipating whether Philae’s difficult journey would actually end in success. A few who spoke to reporters in Darmstadt, Germany, choked up and said how much the mission – dubbed Rosetta – means to them and to space exploration.
“Rosetta is trying to answer the very big questions about the history of our solar system,” said Matt Taylor, ESA Rosetta project scientist. “What were the conditions like at its infancy and how did it evolve? What role did comets play in this evolution? How do comets work?”
There were flaws with the landing – anchoring harpoons didn’t deploy when Philae made impact, lander manager Stephan Ulamec said, and screws meant to burrow into the surface didn’t work. But Philae bounced at least twice, they said, and stuck the landing. And that was all that counts.
A jubilant Jean-Pierre Bibring, who has reportedly spent more than two decades working on the Rosetta mission, showed photos that scientists were just beginning to receive.
ESA scientists and executives high-fived and hugged one another when the landing was confirmed on Wednesday. Spacecraft have crashed into comets before, but this was the first controlled landing in history.
“Our ambitious Rosetta mission has secured a place in the history books: not only is it the first to rendezvous with and orbit a comet, but it is now also the first to deliver a lander to a comet’s surface,” Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s director general, said in a statement.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team
The Rosetta probe sent an unexpected final image back to Earth shortly before it made a controlled impact onto the surface of Comet 67P last September.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team
Philae has been found! —
The Rosetta spacecraft's high-resolution camera took this image of the Philae lander on September 2, 2016. The lander is wedged into a dark crack on a comet, named 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko, hurtling through space. The discovery comes less than a month before the Rosetta mission's end.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team
Philae is wedged in a dark corner of Rosetta —
"We are so happy to have finally imaged Philae, and to see it in such amazing detail," says Cecilia Tubiana of the OSIRIS camera team. She was the first person to see the images when they were downlinked from the Rosetta probe, according to the European Space Agency.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team
Philae found using images from Rosetta —
The image is detailed enough that viewers can pick out features of Philae's 3-foot-wide (1 meter) body. Even two of its three legs can be seen.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team
One of the primary objectives of the Rosetta mission was to drop the Philae lander onto the comet. The probe was successfully deployed in November 2014, becoming the first probe to land on a comet. But Philae failed to grab onto the comet and bounced around. It fell silent a few days later. Then on June 13, 2015, Philae came out of hibernation and "spoke" to mission managers at the European Space Agency for 85 seconds. This photo above was taken by the lander's mothership, the Rosetta orbiter, after the lander started its descent to the comet.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
The Rosetta spacecraft captured this image of a jet of white debris spraying from Comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko on July 29, 2015. Mission scientists said this was the brightest jet seen to date in the mission. The debris is mostly of ice coated with dark organic material.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
Rosetta/Navcam/ESA
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by Rosetta on July 8, 2015 as the spacecraft and comet headed toward their closest approach to the sun. Rosetta was about 125 miles (201 kilometers) from the comet when it took this image.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA
Philae wakes up! Mission managers posted this cartoon of the lander yawning after it came out of hibernation on June 13, 2015. They also sent a series of tweets between the lander and its mothership, Rosetta.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
Courtesy ESA
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a Jupiter-family comet. Its 6.5 year journey around the Sun takes it from just beyond the orbit of Jupiter at its most distant, to between the orbits of Earth and Mars at its closest. The comet hails from the Kuiper Belt, but gravitational perturbations knocked it towards the Sun where interactions with Jupiter's gravity set it on its present-day orbit.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/NavCam
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by Rosetta on June 5, 2015, while the spacecraft was about 129 miles (208 kilometers) from the comet's center.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/NavCam
Rosetta's navigation camera took this image of the comet on June 1, 2015.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
Courtesy ESA/Rosetta/NavCam -- CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
The Rosetta Mission is tracking Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on its orbit around the sun. This image was taken on May 3, 2015 at a distance of about 84 miles (135 km) from the comet's center.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/NavCam -- CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken on April 15, 2015.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta
Rosetta snapped this wide-angle view of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in September 2014. Rosetta was about 107 million miles (172 million kilometers) from Earth and about 92 million miles (148 million kilometers) from the sun when the photo was released.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta
A camera on Rosetta took this picture of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November 22, 2014, from a distance of about 19 miles (31 kilometers). The nucleus is deliberately overexposed to reveal jets of material spewing from the comet. The 2.5-mile-wide (4-kilometer) comet has shown a big increase in the amount of water its releasing, according to NASA. The space agency says about 40 ounces (1.2 liters) of water was being sprayed into space every second at the end of August 2014.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta
Rosetta took this picture of a section of the comet's two lobes from a distance of about 5 miles (8 kilometers) on October 14, 2014.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta
The Rosetta spacecraft's Philae lander is shown sitting on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko after becoming the first space probe to land on a comet on November 12, 2014. The probe's harpoons failed to fire, and Philae bounced a few times. The lander was able to send back images and data for 57 hours before losing power.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta
Rosetta's lander, Philae, wasn't able to get a good grip on the comet after it touched down. This mosaic shows Philae's movements as it bounced across the comet.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta
Philae snapped these images after landing, and mission scientists used them to create a panoramic view of the landing site. A graphic shows where the probe would be sitting in the photograph.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/Philae/
The image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by a camera on the Philae lander during its descent to the comet on November 12, 2014. The lander was about 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) from the surface at the time. Philae touched down on the comet about seven hours later.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team
Rosetta's OSIRIS camera captured this parting shot of the Philae lander after separation.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA
Rosetta's lander Philae took this parting shot of its mother ship shortly after separation on November 12, 2014, as Philae headed for a landing on Comet 67P. While Philae is the first probe to land on a comet, Rosetta is the first to rendezvous with a comet and follow it around the sun.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM
This mosaic is made of four individual images taken about 20 miles (31.8 kilometers ) from the center of the comet on November 4, 2014.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta
Rosetta took this image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on September 15, 2014. The box on the right shows where the lander was expected to touch down.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
The spacecraft sent this image as it approached the comet on August 6, 2014. From a distance of nearly 81 miles (130 kilometers), it reveals detail of the smooth region on the comet's "body" section.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM
This image, captured August 7, 2014, shows the diversity of surface structures on the comet's nucleus.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
The comet's "head" can be seen in the left of the frame as it casts a shadow over the "body" in this image released August 6, 2014.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
This image of the comet was taken on August 1, 2014, as Rosetta closed in its target.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/CNES/ARIANESPACE
Rosetta's mission started on March 2, 2004, when it was launched on a European Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta is named after the Rosetta Stone, the black basalt that provided the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs. Scientists think the mission will give them new clues about the origins of the solar system and life on Earth. The mission is spearheaded by the European Space Agency with key support from NASA.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA/A.Van Der Geest
This photo shows Rosetta being tested before it was wrapped in insulating blankets and loaded on a rocket for launch.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA
Rosetta has massive solar wings to power the spacecraft. They were unfurled and checked out at the European Space Agency's test facilities before being packed up for liftoff.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA
After its closest approach to Earth in November 2007, Rosetta captured this image of the planet.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA
Rosetta snapped this image of Earth in November 2009. The spacecraft was 393,328 miles from Earth.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA
Rosetta passed asteroid Steins in September 2008, giving scientists amazing close-ups of the asteroid's huge crater. The asteroid is about 3 miles in diameter.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA © 2007 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/ LAM/IAA/ RSSD/ INTA/ UPM/ DASP/ IDA
Rosetta took this image of Mars as it looped through the solar system.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA
This image was taken by an instrument on Rosetta's Philae lander just minutes before the spacecraft made its closest approach to Mars. Part of Rosetta and its solar arrays are visible.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA
On July 10, 2010, Rosetta flew about 1,864 miles from asteroid Lutetia, which is 10 times larger than asteroid Steins.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA
Look closely at the top of this picture. See that dot? That's Saturn. Rosetta snapped the picture of asteroid Lutetia and captured Saturn in the background.
Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
PHOTO:
ESA
After taking pictures of Earth, Mars and asteroids, Rosetta was put into hibernation in May 2011 after it reached the outer part of the solar system. Mission managers woke it January 20, 2014.
Many people, and not just the ones who work for ESA, are excited about what kind of information Philae will deliver.
And science fiction writer Alastair Reynolds said, “This is science fiction made real in terms of the achievement of the mission itself, but Rosetta is also taking us a step closer to answering science fiction’s grandest question of all: Are we alone?”
Rosetta took off from Earth 10 years ago, aboard an Ariane 5 rocket, and traveled a total of 6.4 billion miles before rendezvousing with the comet in August.
The Philae lander separated from the orbiting Rosetta around 3:30 a.m. ET Wednesday and landed on the comet seven hours later.
ESA lander system engineer Laurence O’Rourke told CNN that the orbiter had to be in the right position to allow the lander craft, which had no thrusters, to “free fall” on the correct trajectory so it landed on the comet.
The lander weighs about 220 pounds and is the size of a domestic washing machine. The target comet is only 4 kilometers, or 2.5 miles, in diameter.
Shortly after landing was confirmed, the probe tweeted: “Touchdown! My new address: 67P!” Later, it tweeted again: “I’m on the surface but my harpoons did not fire.”
What can we learn from comet landing?
The mission has historic allusions.
The spaceship is named after the Rosetta Stone, an inscribed piece of volcanic rock found in Egypt in 1799 that allowed scientists to decipher hieroglyphics and thus understand the ancient Egyptian culture, ESA said. The lander is named after an island in the Nile River where an obelisk was found that helped decipher the Rosetta Stone, ESA said.
Led by ESA with a consortium of partners including NASA, scientists on the Rosetta comet-chasing mission hope to learn more about the composition of comets and how they interact with the solar wind: high energy particles blasted into space by the sun.
The comet is currently 500 million kilometers (310 million miles) from Earth and pictures from the Rosetta mission to track it on its orbit around the sun have amazed scientists.
We can land on a comet, but we can’t…
It is equipped with an array of experiments to photograph and test the surface of Comet 67P as well as finding out what happens when the roasting effect of the Sun drives off gas and dust.
Built by a European consortium, led by the German Aerospace Research Institute (DLR), the landing probe has 10 instruments.
According to details on ESA’s Rosetta website, sensors on the lander will measure the density and thermal properties of the surface, gas analyzers will help to detect and identify any complex organic chemicals that might be present, while other tests will measure the magnetic field and interaction between the comet and solar wind – high-energy particles given off by the Sun.
What is a comet and what will Rosetta discover
Philae also carries a drill that can drive 20cms (8 inches) into the comet and deliver material to its on-board ovens for testing.
However, mission scientists are already pleased with progress.
“It’s got an awesome profile – the adventure of the decade-long journey necessary to capture its prey, flying past the Earth, Mars and two asteroids on the way,” he said.
“It’s gorgeous where we are!” he said.
How comet mission helps search for alien life
CNN’s Fred Pleitgen and Dave Gilbert contributed to this report.
