Ten facts to sum up orbiter Rosetta and robot lab Philae, Europe’s comet-chasing duo:
- 10 years and eight months: How long Rosetta and its payload Philae have been in space since launch on March 2, 2004.
- 6.5 billion kilometres (four billion miles): The distance they have travelled.
- 510 million kilometres (320 million miles): Current distance of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Earth.
- 18 kilometres per second (11 miles per second): The speed at which the comet and its orbiter are zipping towards the Sun.
- 3.5 km per hour (2.2 miles per hour): The pace at which Philae should ease itself down onto the comet on Wednesday.
- 22.5 km (14 miles): The approximate height at which Rosetta will release Philae.
- Seven: Philae’s journey time in hours to the comet surface - and roughly the number of days it will be able to work without a solar recharge.
- 28 minutes and 20 seconds: The time it will take signals from Rosetta to reach Earth.
- 1.3 billion euros ($1.6 billion): The total cost of the mission - equivalent to the price of about four Airbus A380 jetliners.
- 10: The number of science instruments onboard Philae, adding to 11 on Rosetta.