At about 4:00am ET this morning, the mother ship launched a lander, named Philae, toward the comet. It took its time getting there, but set down on the comet's surface after about seven hours – just after 11:00am.
The lander was not steerable, and it cannot return to the mother ship. It is about the size of a washing machine and weighs about 220 pounds. Once on the surface, it was supposed to fire two harpoons to anchor it to the surface, but they did not work. It does have ice screws in its landing legs that did work.
The mother ship, named Rosetta, has taken a full decade to make this particular rendezvous. The lander has ten instruments to obtain data from the comet, including a drill.
As the comet gets closer to the sun, it is expected to render the lander useless. Scientists may also order Rosetta to land on the surface, too.
* * * * * * *
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/11/12/spacecraft-descent-comet/18900867/
* * * * * * *
Photo Credit: Unchanged; from https://www.flickr.com/photos/europeanspaceagency/14862775903
* * * * * * *
Keywords: Rosetta, comet, Philae, landed, 67P, lander