One infographic explains the incredible, decade-long journey of the Rosetta spacecraft

"We are on the comet." 

After 10 years and 4 billion miles, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission has made history — again.

The unmanned spacecraft successfully deployed a probe to the surface of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Wednesday.

It took years for the spacecraft to reach the comet, which is more than 300 million miles from Earth, but it took the lander Philae just seven hours to reach the comet's surface. Touchdown was confirmed just after 11 am EST.

The ESA released this chart to trace its incredible journey.

Photo courtesy of ESA

"We are sitting on the surface and Philae is talking to us," said Philae lander manager Stephan Ulamec.

"We are on the comet."

There were some glitches along the way, such as a malfunctioning thruster, but the mission was not seriously affected. A camera attached to the Philae lander snapped this photo during the nerve-wracking descent. 

Photo courtesy of ESA

The ESA is, understandably, thrilled.

“Our ambitious Rosetta mission has secured a place in the history books: not only is it the first to rendezvous with and orbit a comet, but it is now also the first to deliver a lander to a comet’s surface,” said ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain.

“With Rosetta we are opening a door to the origin of planet Earth and fostering a better understanding of our future. ESA and its Rosetta mission partners have achieved something extraordinary today.”

The Rosetta began its history-making journey on March 2, 2004. Its mission was simple (yeah right): chase down a comet some 4 billion miles away, enter its orbit, and then send a lander to its surface. None of these things had been done before. 

Rosetta entered the comet's orbit in August and took these snapshots from a distance of less than 6 miles from its surface. 

Photo courtesy of ESA

Pretty amazing, right?

Photo courtesy of ESA

Over the next 13 months, the Philae will collect and analyze samples of gas, dust, and other organic material on the comet, which scientists hope will unlock secrets about the evolution of the solar system and the origins of life. Hopefully this project will involve pinging lots of awesome photos back to Earth.