10 Incredible Facts About The Philae Comet Landing

5. Rosetta's Journey Took Over Ten Years

Rosetta, the spacecraft carrying the Philae lander, has travelled through space for over ten years in order to reach its destination. Rosetta was placed on top of an Ariane 5 rocket on February 16, 2004, before being launched on March 2 the same year. After a number of gravity assists from the planet Earth and Mars, Rosetta entered deep space hibernation on 20 January 2011. It exited hibernation just under three years later, on 20 January 2014, before arriving at the comet on 6 August, 2014. It began the global mapping of the comet's surface on 10 September, in preparation for the delivery of the lander. Philae was finally delivered on 12 November, successfully landing on the same day.