--- description: You might be wondering why the European Space Agency might spend so much time and resources on a frozen lump of ice millions of miles away. title: Why the first comet landing matters image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8eec346b2b583a2e/6987685c0b72e3aaf76dbdf3/rosetta-comet.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [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 # Why the First Comet Landing Matters  by [Arpita Aneja](/author/arpita-aneja/)  ## Arpita Aneja Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 13, 2014 12:14 AM CUT  A photo illustration of the Rosetta probe and Philae lander above the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. A photo illustration of the Rosetta probe and Philae lander above the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet.ESA/Getty Images  by [Arpita Aneja](/author/arpita-aneja/)  ## Arpita Aneja Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 13, 2014 12:14 AM CUT 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. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3582056/comet-philae-landing-big-deal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3582056/comet-philae-landing-big-deal/"},"headline":"Why the First Comet Landing Matters","datePublished":"2014-11-13T00:14:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:23:57.291Z","description":"This mission may be our most informative one yet","url":"https://time.com/3582056/comet-philae-landing-big-deal/","keywords":["Space","Evolution","Science topic","planets","solar system","Comet","universe"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8eec346b2b583a2e/6987685c0b72e3aaf76dbdf3/rosetta-comet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Arpita Aneja","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/arpita-aneja/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8eec346b2b583a2e/6987685c0b72e3aaf76dbdf3/rosetta-comet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ESA Attempts To Land Probe On Comet","caption":"A photo illustration of the Rosetta probe and Philae lander above the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet.","creditText":"ESA/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"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/3582056/comet-philae-landing-big-deal/","name":"Why the First Comet Landing Matters"}}]}] ```