Today the European Space Agency landed a probe on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, the first time this has ever been accomplished. Image: ESA/Rosetta-Philae team/The New York Times.

Earlier today, Nov. 12, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft deployed the Philae lander, which it’s been carrying for over a decade. Somewhat miraculously, it actually landed — though unfortunately its anchoring harpoon failed to deploy. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out more news, because the Rosetta spacecraft is on the “dark” side of the comet.

Eric will be writing about this event in depth in tomorrow’s subscriber edition, within the context of comets in astrological history in both Eastern and Western traditions.

No matter what, this is a pretty incredible feat of aeronautical engineering that could have easily missed its mark. As Planet Waves researcher Carol Van Strum remarked today, “Of course they almost didn’t make it! Ask any hunter how hard it is to hit a moving target, and then imagine the target moving as fast as your bullet. The tiniest flaw or glitch could have deflected the lander into space.”

For those of you tracking such things at home, the signal of successful landing arrived at the mission control center at Darmstadt, Germany, at 5:04 pm local time (11:04 am EST) according to The New York Times.