The best photos from the Rosetta mission's comet landing

Update: Day two news and photos from the Philae mission

A composite of six images taken by Philae on the comet. (ESA)

Today, humankind landed a spacecraft on a comet for the first time. Here's why it's such a big deal. And here's some of the greatest images from this amazing achievement, which we'll continue to update:

Humanity is about to land on a comet http://t.co/ElFWQfs6Zn pic.twitter.com/mdDs0fpghq

— The Verge (@verge) November 12, 2014

For more about the mission, here's our video that explains it in three minutes:

The spacecraft, Philae, was carried to the comet by a larger probe named Rosetta. Here's a pic that Philae took of Rosetta en route to comet 67P/C-G.

.@philae2014’s first postcard just after separation – it’s of me! #CometLanding Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA pic.twitter.com/OXJwGunL3V

— ESA Rosetta Mission (@ESA_Rosetta) November 12, 2014

And here's a pic that Rosetta took of the Philae lander as it went to the comet:

I see you too @philae2014! Here you are in my OSIRIS camera - legs out! #CometLanding pic.twitter.com/hmnfe2AkN2

— ESA Rosetta Mission (@ESA_Rosetta) November 12, 2014

And here's the celebration from the European Space Agency, which was in charge of the mission:

#CometLanding successful! pic.twitter.com/VM0PZT7Hxv

— Bahar Gholipour (@Alterwired) November 12, 2014

Philae later started sending back images from its descent:

.@ESA_Rosetta See for yourself! ROLIS imaged #67P when we were just 3km away! Glad I can share. #CometLanding pic.twitter.com/b6mcid2fsn

— Philae Lander (@Philae2014) November 12, 2014

More celebration!

That's what we want to see! Congrats! @ESA_Rosetta #CometLanding #NASA #SpaceTweeps pic.twitter.com/jcq0MMV9Yu

— Space Rock Man (@geoffnotkin) November 12, 2014

Rosetta mission scientist Matt Taylor's tattoo got a lot of attention:

"Talking to @mggtTaylor who's relieved he doesn't have to get his #CometLanding tattoo removed" - @rebeccamorelle pic.twitter.com/heCz1Q5YuI

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 12, 2014

The comet is quite large, but not nearly as large as a planet like Mars (or Earth, for that matter):

Size of comet 67p relative to LA (drawing @quark1972) pic.twitter.com/niKCKJFLYq

— Stephen Turner (@genetics_blog) November 12, 2014

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