The ESA has chosen five potential sites for its historic comet landing

A European space probe is due to land on a comet in November, and now scientists have identified five sites where it could touch down. If successful, the touchdown of the Rosetta spacecraft’s Philae lander on the target Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko will be the first of its kind. Officials with the European Space Agency identified the potential comet landing sitesafter reviewing detailed images of the oddly-shaped 67P/C-G following Rosetta’s arrival at the object on Aug. 6. Comet 67P/C-G is littered with boulders the size of houses, craggy faces and jagged outcroppings, making the task of choosing a landing site for the 220-lb. (100 kilograms) lander somewhat complicated, according to ESA. The comet is also composed of three distinct parts: a “head,” “neck” and body. Scientists originally picked 10 potential landing sites for Philae, but narrowed it down to five candidates over the last weekend. “This is the first time landing sites on a comet have been considered,” Stephan Ulamec, the mission’s lander manager at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) said in a statement. “Based on the particular shape and the global topography of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, it is probably no surprise that many locations had to be ruled out.” Ulamec said the science team picked the five candidates becausae they get six hours of daylight for each rotation of the comet, and have flat terrain that would be suitable for landing. And, Ulamec added, “of course, every site has the potential for unique scientific discoveries.”