:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/44090218/Welcome_to_a_comet.0.0.jpg)
On November 12, humanity landed a spacecraft on a comet for the first time ever. The European Space Agency's Philae probe separated from its mothership, Rosetta, and descended to the surface of comet 67P/C-G. After bouncing a few times, it finally stuck its landing. And all the while, Rosetta and Philae were taking images of this historic achievement. This is what they saw.
Here's the comet itself. After the Philae probe landed, it took these shots around itself of comet 67P/C-G:
Let's back up to the beginning. The Philae probe had initially gotten into space by hitching a ride with the spacecraft Rosetta. Earlier, Rosetta shot this selfie in which you can see its solar panels and the comet it was approaching:
On November 12, Philae started the landing process. It separated from Rosetta to begin the descent. As Philae traveled down, it took a shot of its mothership, Rosetta. And Rosetta took some pictures back:
This is what it looks like when you're about to land on a comet:
As the world held its breath, Philae landed. And it took this shot of the comet's surface (left) just before it did:
The mission crew celebrated:
The European Space Agency revealed that Philae had bounced after landing. It was planning to land in the red area on the map below, but bounced twice — the first time flying a kilometer up in the area and ended up somewhere in the blue diamond:
Philae then sent back this image of what it looks like on the surface of a comet — the first such photo ever seen:
