Rosetta flight director says Philae ready for release

Europe’s Philae lander radioed home Thursday, sending the first picture from the surface of a comet hours after a dramatic descent.

Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft will close out a historic 4.9-billion-mile journey Friday with a slow-speed crash into the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the tiny world it has studied for the last two years, capturing some of the mission’s best science data to help unravel the inner workings of the comet. Confirmation of the crash landing should arrive on Earth around 1218 BST.

Philae manager Stephan Ulamec provides an update on the status of the lander following it’s arrival on the surface.