Rosetta Probe

After yesterday's historic landing of comet probe Philae on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, scientists have confirmed that Philae is now stable and sending images back to Earth (CLICK). European Space Agency engineers say it may have bounced hundreds of metres off the surface after its harpoons that should have anchored it to the comet failed to fire. The planning for the Rosetta Probe began 25 years ago, then 10 years since lift-off to reach its target. Some of the people involved have spent all their working lives on this project. No wonder they got so excited yesterday. Journalists reporting the history of space research seem to have forgotten the Russian sputnik that startled the world in 1957 and launched the Space Race (CLICK).