Philae heading for comet 67P. Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Philae heading for comet 67P. Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

A message from the ATV Control Centre team who had their own concerns yesterday but managed to follow the Rosetta landing nonetheless:

The ATV Control Center team in Toulouse, France, congratulates our Rosetta-Philae ESA-DLR-CNES colleagues for their fantastic performances!

We know the efforts made to prepare and ensure a successful landing, the days and nights on console to be trained and ready for the Great Day. We all followed from the ATV-Control Centre or from the Cite de l’Espace or via internet, the incredible day of 12 November.

Performing the rendezvous with the comet was a major success for Europe, and especially for the Flight Dynamics and Control Center teams. Yesterday you demonstrated again, if that was necessary, the international expertise of our European teams.