Rosetta space mission: lander Philae prepares to descend on comet 67P

After more than 10 years into its voyage to rendezvous with and study comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the Rosetta space probe will finally release its Philae lander on Wednesday.

The Philae lander will be released from a distance of 22.5 kilometers from the centre of the 67P comet, according to the BBC. The descent is expected to last about seven hours.

Once on the comet’s surface, Philae will fire a harpoon into the ground to anchor itself. Ice screws on its feet will drill down into the comet to secure its stability.

Cameras will then take pictures of the surface terrain, while a drill will collect terrain samples more than 20 centimetres deep into the comet and deliver them to an onboard laboratory for analysis. Sensors will also measure the surface’s density and the comet’s thermal properties, and the data will then be sent back to teams on Earth.

Although the landing date has been set, the descending and landing process is delicate, so the Rosetta team may decide to abort the mission if conditions are not favorable.

Rosetta was launched by the European Space Agency on March 2, 2004 on board an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, in French Guiana.