Watch Comet Landing Live: Rosetta Spacecraft Online Video Stream from Philea Lander

Watch Comet Landing Live: Rosetta Spacecraft Online Video Stream from Philea LanderThanks to the power of the internet, today viewers from all around the globe will have the unprecedented opportunity to witness history as they watch the Rosetta Spacecraft online live video stream as its Philae lander touches down on a comet.

The landing of Rosetta’s Philea lander on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the morning of Wednesday Nov. 12 comes after a 10 year journey under the direction of the European Space Agency (ESA). Touchdown is scheduled for 10:35 a.m. following Philea’s separation from Rosetta just a few hours after midnight tonight. Viewers can watch the live online comet landing video of Rosetta and Philea thanks to a live stream from the ESA below.

Watch Rosetta Spacecraft Online Video Stream of Comet Landing below:


To allow the entire world to share in this historic event, the ESA has created a dedicated web site covering Rosetta’s epic journey, and the agency is sharing a live video stream of the landing by Philea on the comet with the media.

Our readers can simply watch the comet landing using this live video on computers and mobile internet devices without having to download any special software or apps.

A little less than 30 minutes after touchdown (at 11:02 a.m. EST), controllers on the ground supporting the Rosetta mission expect to receive a signal confirming that Philea has successfully landed on the comet.

Philea will be aiming for landing site J, now renamed Agilkia. The site was named after an ESA public essay competition, and is in keeping with the mission’s Egyptian theme. The Philea lander gets its name from an island on the Nile where ancient buildings were relocated after the island Philae flooded.

Post landing, online viewers are encouraged to continue to monitor the live stream from the ESA where they will be able to see the first images ever taken from a comet’s surface.

During its mission, Philea will drill into the surface of the comet to study the composition, and witness first-hand how the surface of the comet will change as its position relative to the sun changes.

While Philae will only be able to perform its duties on the comet for about two-and-a-half days, the Rosetta spacecraft will remain in orbit around the comet. There Rosetta will continue to make detailed studies of the comet as it approaches the sun and then moves away, throughout 2015.

More information about Rosetta and its mission are available online at http://rosetta.esa.int/.

About D Robert Curry

D Robert Curry - with over 2 decades of experience in the IT sector and an avid aviator, Mr. Curry covers all Science & Technology and Aviation realted news stories. drcurry@newstaar.com