Philae Google Logo Marks Incredible Accomplishment Of ESA’s Rosetta Mission To Land Probe On Comet

Google wasted no time acknowledging the incredible accomplishment of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) successful Rosetta mission today, updating its homepage with a space-themed Google logo featuring the ESA Philae probe that landed on Comet 67P.

[pullquote]With Rosetta we are opening a door to the origin of planet Earth and fostering a better understanding of our future.[/pullquote]

Launched all the way back in March 2004, the Rosetta mission is the first controlled touchdown on a comet’s nucleus. According to ESA, the Philae probe traveled 6.4 billion kilometers through the Solar System before finding its way to the comet in August of this year.

Google’s Philae doodle is an animated illustration of the probe, and includes sharing icons that lets users post the logo on their social media pages or send via email.

The logo links to a search for “Philae,” the name given to the probe and taken from the Philae Island in Lake Nassar, Egypt where the Rosetta Stone was discovered.

From the ESA website: “Just as the Rosetta Stone provided the key to an ancient civilisation, so ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft will unlock the mysteries of the oldest building blocks of our Solar System – the comets.”