catching up with a comet

A brand new image shows the view from the Philae lander of the surface of the comet (BBC)

DARMSTADT, Germany (AP) — Landing with a bounce after traveling 4 billion miles, a European spacecraft made history Wednesday by successfully reaching the icy, dusty surface of a speeding comet — a cosmic first designed to answer big questions about the universe.

Ten years to make the trip to an object traveling at about 65,000 mph, synchronizing speed and location and finally landing a probe ... it's nice to think someone can risk the risk and be patient for the results and then succeed in a billion-dollar-plus project that doesn't kill anyone else.

I can't pretend to understand the science, but I can admire the man or woman who takes a bold step and exercises a terrible patience awaiting results ... and not quitting or cutting corners.