Philae's second night on Chury

Due to the lander's position, its solar panels are not receiving enough sunlight to recharge as expected. Scientists are considering how to change the lander's position to better orient at least one solar panel toward the sun. But the clock is ticking ... and Rosetta has again lost touch with the lander, the location of which remains unknown.

There were plenty of problems with Philae's landing: the robot bounced twice before coming to rest unsecured. Due to battery life risks, scientists decided deploy the drill that will search for amino acids, water and other building blocks of life. The ESA said the mechanism worked, and the drill went down 25 centimeters - although the link to Rosetta was lost before results could be uplinked.

ESA scientists and engineers now believe that Philae is surrounded by rocks; Philae scientist Matt Taylor referenced a golfing metaphor in speaking of a "hole in one." Not only does Philae's position endanger battery life, but surrounding physical obstructions have made a communication link with Rosetta difficult. Complicating the situation is lack of knowledge on Philae's exact location.

Philae initially touched down remarkably close to its intended Agilkia site. But harpoons intended to anchor the craft to the surface failed, and the craft bounced twice - once in an arc 1 kilometer high lasting about two hours, and a much shorter one of seven minutes. Scientists are "having a lot of interesting discussions" on where to look for Philae now, it was said at the ESA press conference.

"ESA and its Rosetta mission partners have achieved something extraordinary today," ESA's Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain said on Wednesday. Following a tense seven-hour wait after Philae detached from Rosetta came the news: Philae had touched down on the comet! This released tremendous excitement at the European Space Operation Center in Darmstadt, Germany.

Philae managed to take this photo of Rosetta right after separation. The initial success was followed by more good news: scientific data continues to stream down from Rosetta. Photos have shown that the surface of the comet is covered in dust, rocks and debris, and analysis continues of magnetic and topographic measurements.

Philae had traveled through space with Rosetta for 10 years before landing on the comet. The robot, which appears here just after release for landing as a white dot against the vast darness of space, is about the size of a washing machine. Philae's task is to collect images and samples from the comet that could provide information about the origins of life in our solar system.

When compared to the city of London, one sees how small Comet 64P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko really is. Considering that the comet moves at a speed of 135,000 kilometers per hour (84,000 miles per hour) - and that Rosetta had to travel 6.4 billion kilometers (4 billion miles) to get to it - the scope of the achievement becomes clear, regardless of whether all goals are achieved.