FRANCE-SPACE-EUROPE-ASTRONOMY-COMET

Scientists celebrate in the scientific mission observation centre of the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) in Toulouse, southern France, on November 12, 2014, as they receive information that the European Space Agency's (ESA) robot craft Philae has landed on the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet after a 20-kilometre (12-mile) descent from its carrier the European space probe Rosetta, following a ten year journey. The European probe Philae has made the first-ever landing on a comet, a crowning phase in a quest to explore the origins of the Solar System, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on November 12. Scientists hope the lander, equipped with 10 instruments, will unlock the secrets of comets -- primordial clusters of ice and dust that may have helped sow life on Earth. AFP PHOTO / REMY GABALDA (Photo credit should read REMY GABALDA/AFP via Getty Images)