The touch down of Rosetta‘s Philae lander onto Comet 67P/C-G was more dramatic than first thought. The lander bounced twice and the first bounce may have been as high as a kilometer from the surface. Where it came down to rest is still not known exactly . The three legged spacecraft is apparently sitting at a tilt. Most of the instruments seem to be working properly but the resting spot is shaded (perhaps it is in a hole or near a cliff) and the solar panels are only getting sun for about an hour and a half of the 12 hour comet rotation. They will try to get as much science data out of it as they can before the batteries give out.

Lots more info and images:

• Philae status, a day later – The Planetary Society
• Researchers race to collect comet data from Philae – Spaceflight Now
• Philae’s landing through Rosetta’s eye – Rosetta blog
• Philae, the ‘happy lander’ – Rosetta blog
• Comet with a view – Rosetta blogr
• Touchdown! Rosetta’s Philae probe lands on comet – ESA

Rosetta’s view of Philae as it headed towards the comet:

A view of the comet as Philae approached it:

A view of the surface from about 40 meters:

A 360 degree panorama from Philae of the comet scene around it (see this annotated version for more info on what’s in the image):

An enlarged and rotated view of the comet scene in the bottom right of the above panorama:

Congratulations to ESA and the Rosetta team on the successful landing of Philae on Comet 67P/C-G :

• Touchdown confirmed for Philae at 17:03 CET – Rosetta blog
• Farewell, Philae! – Rosetta blog
• Farewell, Rosetta! – Rosetta blog

Rosetta’s lander Philae took this parting shot of its mothership shortly after separation.

Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera captured this parting shot
of the Philae lander after separation.

Some highlights of events leading up to the separation: