Video: Lander manager provides update on Philae status

Rosetta flight director Andrea Accomazzo says the Philae lander is ready for a daring descent and touchdown Wednesday on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The European craft is making the world’s first attempt to land on a comet.

Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera witnessed Philae’s descent to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission will end Sept. 30 with a dicey descent to the core of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, a risky, but potentially rewarding finale punctuated by commands to automatically safe the probe’s rocket thrusters and turn off its radio transmitter.