LIVE: The Rosetta #CometLanding mission

MANILA, Philippines (2nd UPDATE) – After a ten-year journey in space, an unmanned probe will make history as it lands on a speeding comet’s rocky surface.

On Wednesday, November 12, the Philae lander detached from its mothership Rosetta and started a 7-hour descent into the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, currently speeding across the solar system.

Philae is a 100-kilo (220-pound) lander carrying 10 scientific instruments for the first-ever on-site analysis of a comet, which astrophysicists hope will reveal secrets about the origins of the Solar System and maybe even life on Earth.

One of the most complex and ambitious unmanned programs in space history, the 1.3-billion-euro ($1.6-billion) mission was approved in 1993.

Hoisted into space more than ten years later, Rosetta took another decade to reach its target in August this year.

The stakes facing Rosetta managers in Darmstadt, Germany are daunting as the project reaches a peak.

Two decades of work have been poured into what could be a crowning moment in space exploration.

The goal: the first laboratory research into the primeval matter of the Solar System – ancient ice and dust that, some experts believe, may have helped to sow life on Earth itself.

Philae has been given the green light to attempt the first landing on a comet on Wednesday.

“We’ve got the final go” for the operation, an ESA spokeswoman said at mission control in Darmstadt, Germany.

The unmanned probe separated from its mother ship Rosetta at 0835 GMT (4:35 pm Manila time) and headed towards Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the agency said, after the last of four checks.

Will Philae land successfully? Find out and watch the live stream of the events, courtesy of the European Space Agency (ESA). 

You can also follow ESA’s tweets below.

Tweets from https://twitter.com/kdpsuarez/lists/rosetta-cometlanding //

– With reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com