London (CNN) — Touchdown! The Philae probe has landed on the surface of a comet, scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA) announced Wednesday.
It is the first time a soft landing has been achieved on a comet.
However, project scientists believe anchors that hold the probe to the surface failed to work properly and are now trying to find out why, according to ESA tweets.
ESA lander system engineer Laurence O’Rourke told CNN that engineers are still checking the data to see “how we landed and where we landed.”
Shortly after landing was confirmed, the probe tweeted: “Touchdown! My new address: 67P!” Later, it tweeted again: “I’m on the surface but my harpoons did not fire.”
ESA director Jean-Jacques Dordain told colleagues who had waited anxiously for confirmation of the landing. “This is a big step for human civilization. The biggest problem with success is it looks easy.” Source
