We live in amazing times.
Ten years after the mission was conceived and set into motion, European scientists have landed a spacecraft on the surface of a comet. Despite the fear stemming from the unknown consistency of the comet's surface, which could have ranged from powdery to tarry frozen to anything in between, Philae sank only 4cm into the surface, which indicates perhaps a slight coating of dust.
Over the coming months as Philae piggybacks on the comet and Rosetta maintains orbit, the data they send back could be key to unlocking answers about the formation of the Solar System, the origins of water on Planet Earth and perhaps even life itself.
Rosetta selfie with Comet 67P in background
The challenge for the flight team operating Rosetta from back on Earth was to land Philae on a rotating, duck-shaped comet travelling through space at 18km/s (40,000mph).
The BBC has tons of coverage of the event. Amazing, simply amazing. If you checked my productivity and web-browsing habits today, you'd discover I checked into the BBC's live coverage this morning and was glued to it for the rest of the day. I wasn't around when we landed on the moon, but this is an even more impressive, technical feat. Congrats to everyone who made this happen!
It also needs to be self contradictory like blaming big government, while suggesting that NASA should be funded by Giving everyone tax cuts to boost tax revenue. Oh, NASA also does atmosphere stuff, tie that in with global warming and hit the UN, and ebola. Don't forget HAARP and chemtrails. Those are vital components. What do comets have? Tails made out of chemicals which sound like chemtrails. They must be doing research on comet tails to figure out how they are able to control our fates through astrology! So you see the chemtrails of the future won't just control our minds and bodys, but they'll have the power of astrology to control our future!