BERLIN -- The European Space Agency has confirmed the time and place it will attempt to land the first spacecraft on a comet.
The agency said Wednesday its unmanned probe Rosetta will release the 100-kilogram lander at 0835 GMT (3:35 EST) on Nov. 12.
The aim is to drop its lander Philae at a location dubbed 'Site J' on the 4-kilometre wide comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
The manoeuvr will take about seven hours. But because the radio signals take 28 minutes to travel hundreds of millions of kilometres back to Earth, confirmation of a successful landing won't arrive until about 1603 GMT (11:03 a.m. EST).
Scientists hope the mission will help them learn more about the origins and evolution of objects in the universe.
