T-minus 1 week to Rosetta mission comet landing.

Separation of the comet lander 'Philae' is scheduled for the morning of Wednesday 12 November 2014.

Prepare to witness history in the making!  After its 10 year journey, the culmination of the Rosetta mission will take place in a week's time with the separation of the Philae lander from the 'mothership' during the morning of Wednesady 12 November.  The lander will head for the primary landing site, called Agilkia (after an island in the River Nile) - see images of site in the 'Picture gallery' section of this website.  If all goes well, the robotic lander will a uplink a confirmation of a successful landing to the orbiting mothership, which will then be relayed to Earth. This should be received by about 16.00 GMT on Wednesday 12 November.

I wish the European Space Agency, and the merry band of spacecraft operators at ESOC in Germany, every success in this last crucial event of the Rosetta mission!