Gerhard Schwehm

The European Space Agency on Thursday published the first image taken from the surface of a comet, and said that its Philae lander is still "stable" despite a failure to latch on properly to the rocky terrain.
     

European spacecraft Rosetta became the first ever to catch up with a comet on Aug. 6, a landmark stage in a decade-long space mission that scientists hope will help unlock some of the secrets of the solar system.

After a decade-long quest spanning six billion kilometers, a European probe will come face to face Aug. 6 with a comet, one of the Solar System’s enigmatic wanderers.

The moment will mark a key phase of the most ambitious project ever undertaken by the European Space Agency (ESA), a 1.3 billion euro bid to get to know these timeless space rovers.