Scientists and space exploration scientists cheered Wednesday, when the European Space Agency announced that its unmanned Philae lander had successfully touched down on the surface of a comet 67P. The landing, touted as a first in human history, is the culmination of a space journey that began 10 years ago.
Here’s a by-the-numbers breakdown of the unprecedented mission:
- Distance travelled ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft: 6.4 billion-kilometres, or the equivalent of approximately 160,000 trips around Earth
- Rosetta mission cost: $1.8 billion or 1.3 billion euros
- Philae’s target, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko: measures four kilometres at its widest point, with a total volume of 25 cubic km. It is 500 million kilometres from Earth.
- Speed of the rendezvous: 66,000 kilometres per hour
- Length of Rosetta’s journey to the comet: 10 years
- Philae weighs approximately 100 kilograms, or roughly the size of a household washing machine
- Philae carries a drill that drive 20 centimetres into the comet and retrieve material to its on-board ovens for testing
- Number of cameras Philae will use to snap a panoramic image during the final moments of descent: seven
- Age of the insights scientists are eager to discover from the comet believed to date back to the origins of the solar system: 4.5 billion years ago
