November 12: historical facts and curiosities

Today is a great day to plan ahead and organize your upcoming commitments.

On November 12, 2014, the Philae lander, part of the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission, made history by becoming the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on a comet. After a ten-year journey through space, Philae touched down on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Though its anchoring harpoons failed, it managed to collect valuable data from the comet's surface before its primary battery depleted, providing unprecedented insights into these icy celestial bodies.

On November 12, 1980, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft made its closest approach to Saturn, flying within 124,000 km of the planet's cloud tops. During this flyby, Voyager 1 gathered unprecedented data and captured detailed images of Saturn, its rings, and several of its moons, including Titan, which was found to have a dense atmosphere. This mission provided crucial insights into the Saturnian system, revolutionizing our understanding of the outer solar system.