The Philae probe has made history by sending back the first ever photo from a comet - but fears remain over how secure it is.
Scientists behind the Rosetta mission managed to re-establish contact with the lander this morning and received a first photo from its CIVA camera.
It is thought Philae is stable but it is not yet known whether the probe has anchored after its two harpoons "did not shoot" upon touchdown.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is now planning a complex "manoeuvre" on Friday to try and secure Philae to the comet, which is 300 million miles from Earth.
The day's first contact window is now closed but the ESA expects to receive further signals this evening.
The landing was described as a "big step for human civilisation" by ESA Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain when it was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon.
But celebrations were soon tempered.
It is now thought the probe, which was dispatched from its Rosetta mothership and is roughly the size of a washing machine, bounced off the comet at least twice - first for two hours and then for seven minutes.
Despite the problems, Philae has already sent back "plenty of data", according to the ESA.
Landing manager Dr Stephan Ulamec said: "We still don't fully understand what has happened.
"Did we just land in a soft sandbox and everything is fine even though we are not anchored... or is there something else happening?
"Hopefully we are sitting there on the surface at a position different to the original landing and can continue our science."
The agency is set to hold a news conference this afternoon.
Anchoring is necessary because gravity on the comet - which is travelling at 34,000mph - is 100,000 times weaker than on Earth.
Astrophysicist Philippe Gaudon, who heads the Rosetta mission at French space agency CNES, said it would be difficult for Philae to drill if the probe was not secured.
"However, Philae has not tipped over and seems to be stabilising," Mr Gaudon said.
"And a certain number of instruments are continuing to operate, mainly for measuring temperature, vibration, magnetism and so on."
The harpoon system was supposed to be complemented by a thruster intended to counteract rebound - but scientists became aware before landing that this system was not activating.
Philae is designed to conduct the first-ever scientific experiments on a comet.
It is believed that comets that formed more than four billion years ago could hold the key to how Earth was 'seeded' with water and organic matter, providing the building blocks for life.
The mission was approved in 1993 and Rosetta was hoisted into space carrying Philae in 2004.
Original post found here : http://news.sky.com/story/1372442/rosettas-probe-sends-first-photo-back-to-earth
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