Space probe Rosetta makes historic rendezvous with comet after 10-year chase

The space probe Rosetta on Wednesday made a historic rendezvous with a comet, climaxing a 10-year, six billion-kilometre (3.7-billion-mile) chase through the Solar System, the European Space Agency (ESA) said.

"We're at the comet," declared Rosetta's flight operations manager, Sylvain Lodiot.

It is the first time that a spacecraft has ever gone into orbit around a comet, a wanderer of the Solar System whose primeval dust and ice could hold insights into how the planets formed. In November, a robot scientific lab called Philae will be sent down to the surface to make the first-ever landing on a comet.