The European Space Agency will land the first unmanned spacecraft on a comet next week. The probe was launched in 2004 to study comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and work more in exploring the origins of the universe. It's a 1.3 billion euro ($A1.95 billion) project. The work is being carried out since two decades. The landing will be a big moment in space exploration.

It's coming towards the Sun at 65,000km/h. Philae will detach from Rosetta and then will start its journey for a deep-space rendezvous.

"There is no doubt that we'll hit the comet", said spacecraft operations manager Andrea Accomazzo. Hitting it safely is a different matter, he added.

As per mission manager Fred Jansen, the building of probe started about 20 years ago. The scientists hope the technology to work as planned. They are planning to release Philae, a small landing craft at the right time.
The aim of the mission is to carry out first lab research about ancient ice and dust. The experts believe that this primeval matter may have helped in the origin of life on earth.

Some interesting data on the comet has already been sent by Rosetta. The ESA, which gets fund from its member states, has created interest for space mission among public through different campaigns including online voting for naming the landing site.

Agilkia was later selected as the name of landing site, which is after an island on the Nile River. A short film called "Ambition" was also released. Aidan Gillen acted in the film.

Scheduled for 0835 GMT Wednesday, the landing needs a series of complex orbital maneuvers. The probe is programmed to separate Philae at the right moment as signals take over 28 minutes to travel 311 million miles from Earth to Rosetta.