Rosetta Mission: Landing on a Comet

ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft was the first mission to orbit and land on a comet.
Launched in 2004, it traveled for 10 years before reaching Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in 2014.
Rosetta released the Philae lander, which made the first-ever comet landing.
Philae bounced twice before settling in a shaded spot, limiting its power.
Despite this, it sent back historic data about the comet’s surface and composition.
Rosetta revealed comets contain organic molecules—the building blocks of life.
The mission showed how comets shed gas and dust as they approach the Sun.
Rosetta traveled more than 4 billion miles during its mission.
The spacecraft ended its journey in 2016 by softly crashing onto the comet.
Rosetta transformed our understanding of comets as ancient relics of the solar system.