--- description: Marking the high point of a $1.3 billion, 10-year mission title: Europe's Philae Lander Makes Historic Touchdown on Comet image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Space](/tag/space/) ## Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Europe's Philae Lander Makes Historic Touchdown on Comet by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 14, 2023 12:14 AM CUTPublished: Nov 12, 2014 11:34 AM CUT by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 14, 2023 12:14 AM CUTPublished: Nov 12, 2014 11:34 AM CUT After a suspense-packed, seven-hour descent, the European Space Agency’s Philae lander made an unprecedented touchdown on the surface of a comet Wednesday — marking the high point of a $1.3 billion, 10-year mission. Cheers erupted as the confirming signals were received at from the European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany, at 11:03 a.m. ET. The signals took 28 minutes to travel at the speed of light over the 317 million miles (510 million km) between Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and Earth. ### See the Rosetta Spacecraft's Best Photos of Comet 67P  This image shows comet 67P/CG and was acquired by the ROLIS instrument on the Philae lander during descent on Nov. 12, 2014, 14:38:41 UT from a distance of approximately 3 km from the surface. ESA/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS/DLR/H  A 'selfie' composite image from a camera on the Rosetta mission’s Philae comet lander shows Comet 67P. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM  Comet 67P on Oct. 28, 2014. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM  Comet 67P in a photo released on Aug. 6, 2014. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM  Comet 67P on Sept. 26, 2014. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM  Comet 67P on Oct. 18, 2014 ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM  Comet 67P on Nov. 4, 2014. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM  Comet 67P on Aug. 3, 2014. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/europes-philae-lander-makes-historic-touchdown-comet-n246671?cid=par-time-article%5F20141112 "undefined") _Read next:_ [_See Pictures of Philae Detaching From Rosetta_](http://time.com/3581026/philae-europe-rosetta-comet/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3580606/rosetta-philae-comet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3580606/rosetta-philae-comet/"},"headline":"Europe's Philae Lander Makes Historic Touchdown on Comet","datePublished":"2014-11-12T11:34:30.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-14T00:14:45.000Z","description":"Marking the high point of a $1.3 billion, 10-year mission","url":"https://time.com/3580606/rosetta-philae-comet/","keywords":["Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3580606/rosetta-philae-comet/","name":"Europe's Philae Lander Makes Historic Touchdown on Comet"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Why The First Comet Landing Matters","description":"This space mission may be the most informative one yet","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WaAkw0PP/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-11-12T21:29:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WaAkw0PP.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3580606/rosetta-philae-comet/","duration":"PT56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3580606/rosetta-philae-comet/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```