Philae Lander Moments Away From Landing On Comet – Watch Live

You can watch live coverage of Rosetta mission this morning when the Philae probe will make a historic landing on a comet. If it succeeds it will be the first time a spacecraft has landed on a comet. The Philae lander separated from the mother ship Rosetta around 3:30 a.m. ET to begin its 7-hour descent. Below is the image from Philae when it was released from Rosetta.

Scientists should have word around 11 a.m. ET if the landing was successful. To have a successful landing a thruster will be fired to push the lander “into” the comet and prevent it from bouncing away upon contact with the surface. Once on the surface the lander has three drills (one mounted to each landing leg) and two harpoons to attach itself to the comet. Once attached the pictures should start being sent. The first picture should be of the landing site taken by Philae during the final moments of descent, followed by a panoramic image from seven cameras on the top edge of the lander. Philae has been travelling on the side of Rosetta for the past 10 years across the solar system to get to Comet 67P. Commet 67P was discovered in 1969 and was chosen as the perfect comet.

We wish the European Space Agency’s Rosetta Mission the best of luck. There is a 27 minute communication delay due to the distance, so it might have landed already and we are just waiting for the first transmission to be received. Nothing like waiting for a signal from 511Mkm away!

You can watch the live stream below.