Europe set to make space history with comet landing

One of the biggest gambles in space history comes to a climax on Wednesday when Europe attempts to make the first-ever landing on a comet. Speeding towards the Sun at 65,000 kilometres per hour, a lab called Philae will detach from its mothership Rosetta, heading for a deep-space rendezvous laden with risk. The 100-kilogram probe will seek out a minuscule landing site on the treacherous surface of an object darker than coal, half a billion kilometres from home.

It took a billion calculations to find a decent landing site.

Francis Rocard, a French astrophysicist

The goal: the first laboratory research into the primeval matter of the Solar System — ancient ice and dust that, some experts believe, may have helped to sow life on Earth itself. According to this theory, comets pounded the fledgling Earth 4.6 billion years ago, providing it with complex organic carbon molecules and precious water. Rosetta has already sent home fascinating data on the comet, but Philae will provide the first boots-on-the-ground assessment, using 10 instruments to study the comet’s physical and chemical composition.

Science Philae