Historic space mission a success as space lander lands on a speeding comet

Head of the European Space Agency: 'A big step for human civilisation'

17:41 12 November 2014

The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission has been declared a milestone success after teams landed a probe on a comet moving through space at 34,000mph.

 

The ongoing landmark mission is taking place 315 million miles from the Earth as the rock hurtles through space at around 34,000mph. 

 

European Space Agency Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain stated: "This is a big step for human civilisation."

 

As the Philae lander began sending signals back from the comet, scientists at ESA cheered and punched the air.

 

Scientists were surprised to find the rock was “emitting a song.” 

 

"This is exciting because it is completely new to us. We did not expect this and we are still working to understand the physics of what is happening," said the Rosetta Plasma Consortium (RPC).

 

Chief scientist Matt Taylor said: "This particular class of comet, Jupiter class comets, showed a similar flavour of water to what we see on Earth so possibly comets could have delivered the Earth's oceans, so water - and ultimately us, because we are made of water."