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The unprecedented comet landing, explained in 3 minutes

by Joseph Stromberg and Joss Fong
Part Of
Philae’s historic comet landing
see all updates

Today the European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe landed a robot onto comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which is currently hurtling through our solar system more than 300 million miles away from Earth. Vox science writer Joseph Stromberg explains Rosetta’s journey, and why we would want to land on a comet in the first place.

Further reading: Scientists just landed a spacecraft on a comet for the first time. Here's why it matters.

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More in: Philae’s historic comet landing

Philae is still lost on a comet. The Rosetta probe might go search for it.Philae is still lost on a comet. The Rosetta probe might go search for it.
The Rosetta probe discovered that comet 67P/C-G is light as a corkThe Rosetta probe discovered that comet 67P/C-G is light as a cork
Two months later, scientists still can’t locate the Philae landerTwo months later, scientists still can’t locate the Philae lander

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