Rosetta UPdate:
The spacecraft has been stationed near the comet for three months. Now the plan is for separation of a landing module which is to be placed on the rocky surface of the comet. This is phenomenal.
On Nov 12th (Wednesday) at 3:35 AM the lander will separate from the orbiting craft and very slowly fall "down" to the comet at about 2 MPH. The lander has no steering thrusters. Once at the surface it screws itself in and harpoons will fire to attach to the rock.
http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Vid...on_the_surface
For a 90 minutes briefing full of information: suggest starting at 15:30 time stamp
Briefing: Rosetta science and countdown to comet landing - YouTube
It will take 7 hours for the lander to travel about 18 miles for touchdown. Landing is expected about 10:30 AM. However as it takes 28 minutes for radio signals to reach earth from the craft, it will be 11 AM before confirmation of success could be received. The lander will have several important experiments to conduct over its lifespan which is limited by battery life. The batteries are expected to work for about 65 hrs. There will be an attempt to solar charge for further use but at best it will take 2 days of charging to get one hour of use. There is dust on the surface and if it is disturbed by the lander and settles on the solar panels, no recharge will happen. Keep in mind this was built using technology from 2003. As the comet is moving toward the sun, the surface of the comet and lander is expected to become too hot for survival. The orbiting craft will survive hopefully as the comet goes around the sun with perihelion (closest to sun) on Aug 15 2015 then several more months of data collection with mission ending at the end of the year.
Here is rosetta's main webpage
Rosetta | rendezvous with a comet