Europe’s space agency sets time, place for ‘risky’ comet landing

The European Space Agency has confirmed the time and place it will attempt to land the first spacecraft on a comet. The agency said Wednesday its unmanned probe Rosetta will release the 100-kilogram lander at 0835 GMT Nov. 12. The aim is to drop its lander Philae at a location dubbed ‘Site J’ on the 4-kilometre wide comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The maneuver will take about seven hours. But because the radio signals take 28 minutes to travel hundreds of millions of kilometers back to Earth, confirmation of a successful landing won’t arrive until about 1603 GMT. Scientists hope the mission will help them learn more about the origins and evolution of objects in the universe.

Science rosetta