In a Week, Humanity Will Land on Comet For First Time

[Buster's Uncle]

In a Week, Humanity Will Land on Comet For First Time
Boldride
By Jeff Perez  24 minutes ago






Mark your calendars – on Nov. 12 the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission will shoot a robotic landing unit (named Philae) onto the surface of a comet. After a 10-year mission, if successful, it will be the first time ever humanity has landed anything on the surface of a comet.

A journey that has spanned over 4 billion miles already, it will finally come to rest atop a “duck-shaped” comet and help scientists answer questions about the solar system.

Preparing for #CometLanding

Experts are calling it one of the greatest space explorations of our lifetime. It could be key to figuring out exactly how the solar system works, and even how the heck we all got here.

The landing is risky, though. This giant moving rock has a number of craters and cliffs that could prove dangerous for fridge-sized Philae. The landing spot — named Agilkia — was decided back in September and is about the safest predicted spot to land. For good measure, scientists have a backup “Site C” in case something does go wrong.





The landing is scheduled for Nov. 12 at 8:35 GMT (3:35 a.m. EST), and the descent is expected to last seven hours. There will be a live stream of it all happening, so stay tuned.


http://news.yahoo.com/week-humanity-land-comet-first-time-183044920.html