The European Space Agency (ESA) reports that following a night of Go/NoGo decision-making, its cometary lander has successfully separated from the Rosetta spacecraft in orbit around the comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko and is now heading to its surface.

Despite a problem with the landers gas thruster, if the 150 kg Philae is able to successfully maneuver its way onto the boulder-strewn surface of the mile-long body located some 500 million km from Earth, it will mark the first time a spacecraft has been able to touch down on the surface of a comet itself. Now in its 98th day of orbit around 67P, it has taken more than a decade for the Rosetta mission to finally cross this crucial Rubicon.

ESA reports that after performing a series of checks on the landers health, the Philaes active descent system was found to be non-operational. During the final phase of descent, the thruster would have been used to avoid what ESA terms rebound at the moment of touchdown.

Credit: ESA

This means that at the moment of impact on the surface of the comet, in an area dubbed Agilkia, the Philae lander will have to rely solely on ice screws and harpoons to secure itself to the surface. The downward thruster atop the lander was to have been used to counteract the impulse of the harpoons being thrust in the opposite direction.

The cold gas thruster on top of the lander does not appear to be working so we will have to rely fully on the harpoons at touchdown, Stephan Ulamec, Philae lander manager at the DLR German Aerospace Center told an early morning press conference. Well need some luck not to land on a boulder or a steep slope.

Even so, Rosettas controllers at the at ESAs Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany note that the spacecrafts overall health remains good. However, after the lander separates from the orbiter, ESA doesnt expect the orbiter to receive signals from Philae for at least two hours or until the lander establishes communication with the Rosetta orbiter.

The descent to the comet itself is expected to take some seven hours with confirmation of touchdown not expected until 6:02 PM (CET)/1:02 PM (EST) Wednesday.

The lander should begin its science mission on the oddly-shaped comet as soon as it touches down. Researchers emphasize that exploration of such comets are crucial to understanding the primordial solar system; the origin of both our solar system and even life itself.

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ESA Lander Now Headed To Comet's Surface [Updated]