QUB’s robot may or may not land on a comet 300 million miles away today

They’ve waited 10 years for this moment

comet queens space

Astronomers at Queen’s, students and professors alike, are coming to the end of the 10 year journey today when they find out if their space probe lands on a comet over 300 million miles away.

The robot, named Philae, which is being released from a spaceship worth £1.3 billion will allow scientists to see images from the comet’s surface for the very first time.

Scientists from all over the world have been preparing for this moment, estimated to be at 4pm this afternoon, by taking finite measurements and fabulous images for the past decade.

Professor Alan Fitzsimons who is from the Astrophysics Research Centre at Queen’s says that this mission “realises the ambition of mankind to explore our origins, and discover what is out there… and Queen’s is a part of that effort.”

The theory that the scientists and robot are hoping to prove is that this comet provided all the water for Earth since its creation 4.7 billion years ago by measuring the water ice that makes up most of the comet.

Who knows, if the moon doesn’t work out, maybe mankind living on an icy comet 317 million miles away is the answer?