Robot probe Philae has landed on a comet, in a first in space exploration and the crowning phase of a decade-long mission.
The European Space Agency (ESA) lander touched down on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, after a seven-hour descent from spacecraft Rosetta, at about 1605 GMT, Radio New Zealand reports.
There were cheers and hugs at the control room in Darmstadt, Germany after the signal was confirmed.
Scientists hope the lander, equipped with 10 instruments, will unlock the secrets of the primordial clusters of ice and dust that may have helped sow life on Earth.
The probe is designed to take samples from the surface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which it is hoped will help show how planets and life are created, as the rock and ice that make up the comet preserve organic molecules like a time-capsule.
“This is a big step for human civilisation,” said ESA director general Jean-Jacques Dordain.