Landing on a Comet

Comet 67P has been flying solo through space for millennia, and didn’t know it was in for a visitor. Yet a visitor touched down this week, for the first time in human history. The European Space Station launched Philae to the surface of the comet, which is whizzing at a brisk 84,000 miles per hour. It was even able to take a number of photos of the comet surface. Pretty incredible. Via NYTimes:

It’s hard to visualize the size of 67P when its in the vastness of space. Here’s a handy mockup that someone in the UK did, it shows how big the comet would appear if it landed in Cork.

And here’s a brand new image from the surface of the comet itself.