Comet landing success: ESA Rosetta probe relays photos of Philae lander sitting on comet Last Updated Nov 13, 2014 5:45 AM EST A gadget-packed landing vehicle the size of a washing machine sent its own confirmation back to Earth on Thursday morning that it had landed safely -- after a couple of attempts -- and come to rest on the surface of a comet hurtling through space. "Rosetta's lander Philae is safely on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, as these first two CIVA images confirm," said a message on the European Space Agency's website posted as the caption to a high-resolution composite image of the Philae lander itself sitting on the icy comet's surface. Rosetta's lander Philae pictured on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. ESA's six-month mission to land on the surface of a comet for the first time ever culminated Wednesday, when the Rosetta probe launched the Philae lander toward the comet's surface. ESA knew it had touched down, but then data showed it had bounced, and they lost contact with the lander as expected due to the rotation of the comet before a stable landing could be confirmed Wednesday. Knowing that a set of harpoons meant to secure the lander onto the comet's surface had failed, it was a tense wait overnight for the new telemetry showing that Philae had come to an eventual stable landing. Yesterday was exhausting! I actually performed 3 landings,15:33, 17:26 & 17:33 UTC," said a tweet on the Philae lander's official account Thursday morning. The account is managed by ESA staff at the European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany, but messages are posted in the first-person -- humanizing the high-tech lander which is now zooming through space aboard the comet some 317 million miles from Earth. About half an hour later, the photo of the lander sitting on the comet was revealed. As expected, CBS News space consultant William Harwood reported the Philae lander hit the two-and-a-half-mile-wide comet at a walking pace on Wednesday -- a bit more than 2 mph -- around 10:35 a.m. Radio signals confirming touchdown reached flight controllers in Darmstadt 28 minutes later. A cold gas thruster was programmed to fire at the moment of landing to help push Philae down while two harpoons shot into the soil to anchor the spacecraft in place. In addition, the harpoons apparently failed to deploy as planned to anchor the lander on the surface. "It's complicated to land on a comet," said Stephan Ulemac, the Philae landing team director. And it's not only complicated to land there, it's also, as it appears, very complicated to understand what has happened during this landing. What we know is we touched down, we landed at the comet at the time when you all saw us cheering. We had a very clear signal there, and we also received data from the lander, housekeeping data and also science data. The Philae comet lander. Assuming it will not displace the lander in the absence of its anchors, a drill will penetrate a foot below the surface to collect pristine material for chemical analysis. ESA, thank you from the bottom of my heart for a wonderful experience.