Rosetta probe landing on Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko scheduled

The European Space Agency has confirmed the time and place it will attempt to land the first spacecraft on a comet.

The agency said Wednesday its unmanned probe Rosetta will release the 100-kilogramlander at 0835 GMT (3:35 ET) on Nov. 12.

The aim is to drop its lander Philae at a location dubbed `Site J' on the 4-kilometrewide comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

The maneuver will take about seven hours. But because the radio signals take 28 minutes to travel hundreds of millions of miles (kilometers) back to Earth, confirmation of a successful landing won't arrive until about 1603 GMT (11:03 a.m. EST).

Scientists hope the mission will help them learn more about the origins and evolution of objects in the universe.