Philae is about the size of a washing machine.
It will use harpoons and screws to try to hold itself down
It will use harpoons and screws to try to hold itself down
The date has been fixed for Europe's daring attempt to land on a comet: Wednesday 12 November.
It will see the Rosetta satellite, which is currently orbiting the huge "ice mountain" known as 67P, drop a small robot from a height of 20km.If all goes well, the lander will free-fall towards the comet, making contact with the surface somewhere in a 1km-wide zone at roughly 15:35 GMT.
The European Space Agency (Esa) says the challenges ahead are immense.
Imagine pushing a washing machine out the back of an airliner at twice cruising altitude and expecting it to hit Regent's Park in London - all while the ground is moving underneath.
Although not really analogous for many reasons, this scenario does give a sense of the difficulties involved.
The chances of failure are high.
