EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY makes final preparations to land spacecraft on a comet.

The launch of a small lander from ESA’s Rosetta space probe marks one of the key moments in the decade-long mission to examine comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

ESA scientists said Friday that a series of orbital manoeuvrs and calculations for the touchdown will take place over the coming days before the lander, dubbed Philae, is released at 0835 GMT (3:35 a.m. EST) Wednesday.

If all goes according to plan, the 100-kilogram (220-pound) lander will latch onto the comet’s icy surface seven hours later.

Tomorrow, about 10:30 a.m. Eastern time.