ESA chooses landing site on comet for Rosetta mission

New Scientist : The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected a landing spot for Rosetta ‘s Philae lander near the head of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The chosen spot, designated J, was one of five candidate sites and was selected because it was the “smoothest” option. Even with that description, photographs from Rosetta reveal that the area has scattered boulders and cliffs that could make the landing difficult. A public campaign will be held to select an official name for the landing site before Philae is released in mid-November. The lander will take panoramic pictures, perform analyses of gas and dust at the surface, and drill into the surface to attempt to reveal the nature of internal cometary material.