Rosetta's historic comet-chasing mission has come one step closer to fruition as the mission managers have selected a spot for the satellite to deploy its Philae lander.

According to BBC News, Rosetta will have to operate the lander autonomously due to the immense distance from the European Space Agency (ESA) control team on Earth. If successful, Rosetta will be the first satellite to ever attach itself to a comet.

When Rosetta completed its decade-long, hibernation-state trek to get to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, mission managers realized their subject had an irregular shape. Since turning itself back on, Rosetta has been orbiting 67P and vetting the comet for a good place to plant the Philae lander.

"At the end of the day, you'll only know when you land. Then it will have been either 100 percent or zero. That's the way it is," (ESA) project manager Fred Jansen told BBC News, though scientific projections favor Rosetta's odds.

On Nov. 11, the ESA plans to send Rosetta to a distance of about 10km from 67P before discharging the landing tool. Since the comet does not have a strong gravitational pull, the Philae lander is equipped with screws and harpoons to make the tool stick to the surface.

"We cannot predict the activity of the comet between now and landing, and on landing day itself," flight director Andrea Accomazzo told the Guardian. "A sudden increase in activity could affect the position of Rosetta in its orbit at the moment of deployment and in turn the exact location where Philae will land, and that's what makes this a risky operation."

If Rosetta is successful, scientists on Earth will get the first ever first-hand look at the life of a comet as it hurdles from deep space toward a trip around the sun. Designed 15 years ago and arrived at its destination after drifting for 10 years on idle, Accomazzo told the Associated Press the "time has come to make it happen."

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