By Arpita Aneja
Philae lander touched down Wednesday on the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, also known as 67p, after a 10 year journey that cost as much as $1.3 billion. You might be wondering why the European Space Agency spends so much time and resources on a frozen lump of ice millions of miles away. But this mission, which successfully landed the first ever probe onto our solar system’s most primitive material, will give us valuable information about the origins of our solar system and how it evolved.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- L.A. Fires Show Reality of 1.5°C of Warming
- Home Losses From L.A. Fires Hasten ‘An Uninsurable Future’
- The Women Refusing to Participate in Trump’s Economy
- Bad Bunny On Heartbreak and New Album
- How to Dress Warmly for Cold Weather
- We’re Lucky to Have Been Alive in the Age of David Lynch
- The Motivational Trick That Makes You Exercise Harder
- Column: No One Won The War in Gaza
Write to Arpita Aneja at arpita.aneja@time.com