- Images show area on comet where scientists believe Philae probe landed
- "Rosetta is trying to answer the very big questions about the history of our solar system," ESA scientist says
- Experts are excited about what kind of information Philae will deliver
- Philae has 9 experiments including drill to sample the surface, onboard oven
(CNN) -- Scientists who pulled off a huge achievement in space exploration showed numerous black-and-white images Thursday of where they think the Philae probe landed on a comet 310 million miles from Earth.
Many at the European Space Agency have gone without sleep in the last few days, nervously anticipating whether Philae's difficult journey would actually end in success. A few who spoke to reporters in Darmstadt, Germany, choked up and said how much the mission -- dubbed Rosetta -- means to them and to space exploration.
"Rosetta is trying to answer the very big questions about the history of our solar system," said Matt Taylor, ESA Rosetta project scientist. "What were the conditions like at its infancy and how did it evolve? What role did comets play in this evolution? How do comets work?"
There were flaws with the landing -- anchoring harpoons didn't deploy when Philae made impact, lander manager Stephan Ulamec said, and screws meant to burrow into the surface didn't work. But Philae bounced at least twice, they said, and stuck the landing. And that was all that counts.
Another stunning image of my new home taken by ROLIS during #CometLanding yesterday, when I was just 40 m from #67P http://ift.tt/1tLM2Ng
— Philae Lander (@Philae2014) November 13, 2014 A jubilant Jean-Pierre Bibring, who has reportedly spent more than two decades working on the Rosetta mission, showed photos that scientists were just beginning to receive.
ESA scientists and executives high-fived and hugged one another when the landing was confirmed on Wednesday. Spacecraft have crashed into comets before, but this was the first controlled landing in history.
How Rosetta lands on the comet 
Rosetta's lander Philae is on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Thursday, November 13, and sending back images. One of the lander's three feet can be seen in the foreground. While Philae is the first probe to land on a comet, Rosetta is the first to rendezvous with a comet and follow it around the sun. The information collected by Philae at one location on the surface will complement that collected by the Rosetta orbiter for the entire comet. 
Rosetta's lander Philae captured this image during its descent to the comet from a distance of 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the surface on Wednesday, November 12. 
Philae took this parting shot of its mother ship shortly after separation on November 12, as Philae headed for a landing on Comet 67P. The lander touched down on the comet seven hours after separating from the orbiter. 
Rosetta's OSIRIS camera captured this parting shot of the Philae lander after separation. 
This mosaic is made of four individual images taken 31.8 kilometers (about 20 miles) from the center of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November 4. 
Rosetta took this image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on September 15. The box on the right shows where the lander will touch down. 
The spacecraft sent this image as it approached the comet on August 6. From a distance of 130 kilometers (nearly 81 miles), it reveals detail of the smooth region on the comet's "body" section. 
This image, captured August 7, shows the diversity of surface structures on the comet's nucleus. 
The comet's "head" can be seen in the left of the frame as it casts a shadow over the "body" in this image released August 6. 
This image of the comet was taken on August 1. 
Rosetta's mission started on March 2, 2004, when it was launched on a European Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana. 
Rosetta is named after the Rosetta Stone, the black basalt that provided the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs. Scientists think the mission will give them new clues about the origins of the solar system and life on Earth. The mission is spearheaded by the European Space Agency with key support from NASA. 
This photo shows Rosetta being tested before it was wrapped in insulating blankets and loaded on a rocket for launch. 
Rosetta has massive solar wings to power the spacecraft. They were unfurled and checked out at the European Space Agency's test facilities before being packed up for liftoff. 
After its closest approach to Earth in November 2007, Rosetta captured this image of the planet. 
Rosetta snapped this image of Earth in November 2009. The spacecraft was 393,328 miles from Earth. 
Rosetta passed asteroid Steins in September 2008, giving scientists amazing close-ups of the asteroid's huge crater. The asteroid is about 3 miles in diameter. 
Rosetta took this image of Mars as it looped through the solar system. 
This image was taken by an instrument on Rosetta's Philae lander just minutes before the spacecraft made its closest approach to Mars. Part of Rosetta and its solar arrays are visible. 
On July 10, 2010, Rosetta flew about 1,864 miles from asteroid Lutetia, which is 10 times larger than asteroid Steins. 
Look closely at the top of this picture. See that dot? That's Saturn. Rosetta snapped the picture of asteroid Lutetia and captured Saturn in the background. 
After taking pictures of Earth, Mars and asteroids, Rosetta was put into hibernation in May 2011 after it reached the outer part of the solar system. Mission managers woke it January 20, 2014. 
In November, Rosetta will become the first spacecraft to deploy a robot for a soft landing on a comet. It also will be the first probe to escort a comet into our inner solar system. This drawing shows how Rosetta will drop its robot lander, Philae, onto the comet. 
The robot lander will fire harpoons to anchor itself to the comet. Scientists expect the lander to send back data to Earth for at least a week and possibly for many months as the comet heads toward the sun. 
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Rosetta: The comet chaser 'A place in the history books'
"Our ambitious Rosetta mission has secured a place in the history books: not only is it the first to rendezvous with and orbit a comet, but it is now also the first to deliver a lander to a comet's surface," Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA's director general, said in a statement.
Many people, and not just the ones who work for ESA, are excited about what kind of information Philae will deliver.
And science fiction writer Alastair Reynolds said, "This is science fiction made real in terms of the achievement of the mission itself, but Rosetta is also taking us a step closer to answering science fiction's grandest question of all: Are we alone?"
Rosetta took off from Earth 10 years ago, aboard an Ariane 5 rocket, and traveled a total of 6.4 billion miles before rendezvousing with the comet in August.
Lander stable on comet's surface 
How Philae space probe docked on comet 
Rosetta team celebrates landing The Philae lander separated from the orbiting Rosetta around 3:30 a.m. ET Wednesday and landed on the comet seven hours later.
ESA lander system engineer Laurence O'Rourke told CNN that the orbiter had to be in the right position to allow the lander craft, which had no thrusters, to "free fall" on the correct trajectory so it landed on the comet.
The lander weighs about 220 pounds and is the size of a domestic washing machine. The target comet is only 4 kilometers, or 2.5 miles, in diameter.
Named after Rosetta Stone
Shortly after landing was confirmed, the probe tweeted: "Touchdown! My new address: 67P!" Later, it tweeted again: "I'm on the surface but my harpoons did not fire."
What can we learn from comet landing?
The mission has historic allusions.
The spaceship is named after the Rosetta Stone, an inscribed piece of volcanic rock found in Egypt in 1799 that allowed scientists to decipher hieroglyphics and thus understand the ancient Egyptian culture, ESA said. The lander is named after an island in the Nile River where an obelisk was found that helped decipher the Rosetta Stone, ESA said.
Led by ESA with a consortium of partners including NASA, scientists on the Rosetta comet-chasing mission hope to learn more about the composition of comets and how they interact with the solar wind: high energy particles blasted into space by the sun.
The comet is currently 500 million kilometers (310 million miles) from Earth and pictures from the Rosetta mission to track it on its orbit around the sun have amazed scientists.
An array of experiments
We can land on a comet, but we can't...
Philae is equipped with an array of experiments to photograph and test the surface of Comet 67P as well as to find out what happens when the roasting effect of the sun drives off gas and dust.
Built by a European consortium, led by the German Aerospace Research Institute, the landing probe has nine experiments.
According to details on ESA's Rosetta website, sensors on the lander will measure the density and thermal properties of the surface, gas analyzers will help detect and identify any complex organic chemicals that might be present, while other tests will measure the magnetic field and interaction between the comet and solar wind.
What is a comet and what will Rosetta discover
Philae also carries a drill that can drive 20 centimeters (8 inches) into the comet and deliver material to its on board ovens for testing.
Scientists are already pleased with progress of the mission, and they're wowed by what's already been accomplished.
Bibring took questions from reporters about the failure of the harpoons, answering them in great detail. He appeared to get mildly frustrated, though, and implored that failure not be the focus.
"It's gorgeous where we are!" he said.
How comet mission helps search for alien life
CNN's Fred Pleitgen and Dave Gilbert contributed to this report.
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