On 12 November 2014, Rosetta’s Philae probe is set to make the first-ever landing on a comet when it touches down on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Separation of the lander is planned for about 4:03 a.m. EDT (1:03 a.m. PDT, 9:03 a.m. GMT, 10:03 a.m. CET), and touch down should follow about seven hours later, at 11:02 a.m. EDT (8:02 a.m. PDT, 4:02 p.m. GMT, 5:02 p.m. CET).
ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft arrived at Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on 6 August 2014 after a 10-year journey through the Solar System.
The landing site, named Agilkia (also known as Site J), is located on the smaller of the comet’s two ‘lobes.’ It was selected just six weeks after Rosetta arrived at the comet.
The mission’s lander, Philae, will be deployed on 12 November 2014 at 4:03 a.m. EDT (1:03 a.m. PDT, 9:03 a.m. GMT, 10:03 a.m. CET), from a distance of 22.5 km from the center of the comet.
It will land about seven hours later, with confirmation expected to arrive at Earth at 11:02 a.m. EDT (8:02 a.m. PDT, 4:02 p.m. GMT, 5:02 p.m. CET).
Rosetta probe’s landing site is located on the head of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko; the inset shows a close-up of the site. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / MPS for OSIRIS team MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA.
Three control centers are involved in the landing: the Rosetta Mission Operations Center at ESA’s Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany; the Lander Control Center at DLR in Cologne, Germany; and the Lander Science Operations and Navigation Center at CNES in Toulouse, France.
Follow this historic event via live updates posted in the following channels:
Webcast live from mission control: http://new.livestream.com/esa/cometlanding
Rosetta blog: http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta
