Rosetta: The comet chaser
ESA: A short-lived outburst from Comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko was captured by Rosetta's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on 29 July 2015.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko was taken by Rosetta on July 8, 2015 as the spacecraft and comet headed toward their closest approach to the sun. On August 13, 2015 -- the pair will come about 116 million miles (186 million kilometers) from the sun. Rosetta was about 125 miles (201 kilometers) from the comet when it took this image on July 8, 2015. Mission managers backed the probe away from the comet was spraying out streams of materials as it neared the sun.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
The Philae comet lander came out of hibernation on June 13 and "spoke" to mission managers at the European Space Agency for 85 seconds. The probe fell silent a few days after it failed to stick its landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November, 2014. The photo above was taken by the lander's mothership, the Rosetta orbiter after the lander started its descent to the comet.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Philae wakes up! Mission managers posted this cartoon of the lander yawning after coming out of hibernation on June 13. They also sent a series of tweets between the lander and its mothership, Rosetta.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a Jupiter-family comet. Its 6.5 year journey around the Sun takes it from just beyond the orbit of Jupiter at its most distant, to between the orbits of Earth and Mars at its closest. The comet hails from the Kuiper Belt, but gravitational perturbations knocked it towards the Sun where interactions with Jupiter's gravity set it on its present-day orbit.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by Rosetta on June 5, 2015 while the spacecraft was about 129 miles (208 kilometers) from the comet's center.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta's navigation camera took this image of the comet on June 1, 2015.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
The Rosetta Mission, now into its 11th year, is tracking Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on its orbit around the sun. This image was taken on May 3, 2015 at a distance of about 84 miles (135 km) from the comet's center.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken on April 15, 2015.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
The Rosetta spacecraft snapped this wide-angle view of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in September, 2014. Rosetta was about 107 million miles (172 million kilometers) from Earth and about 92 million miles (148 million kilometers) from the sun when the photo was released.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
A camera on Rosetta took this picture of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November 22, 2014, from a distance of about 19 miles (31 kilometers). The nucleus is deliberately overexposed to reveal jets of material spewing from the comet. The 2.5-mile-wide (4-kilometer) comet has shown a big increase in the amount of water its releasing, according to NASA. The space agency says about 40 ounces (1.2 liters) of water was being sprayed into space every second at the end of August 2014.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta took this picture of a section of the comet's two lobes from a distance of about 5 miles (8 kilometers) on October 14, 2014.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
The Rosetta spacecraft's Philae lander is shown sitting on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko after becoming the first space probe to land on a comet on November 12, 2014. The probe's harpoons failed to fire, and Philae bounced a few times. The lander was able to send back images and data for 57 hours before losing power.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta's lander, Philae, wasn't able to get a good grip on the comet after it touched down. This mosaic shows Philae's movements as it bounced across the comet.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Philae snapped these images after landing, and mission scientists used them to create a panoramic view of the landing site. A graphic shows where the probe would be sitting in the photograph.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
The image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by a camera on the Philae lander during its descent to the comet on November 12, 2014. The lander was about 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) from the surface at the time. Philae touched down on the comet about seven hours later.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta's OSIRIS camera captured this parting shot of the Philae lander after separation.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta: The comet chaser
This mosaic is made of four individual images taken about 20 miles (31.8 kilometers ) from the center of the comet on November 4, 2014.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta took this image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on September 15, 2014. The box on the right shows where the lander was expected to touch down.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
The spacecraft sent this image as it approached the comet on August 6, 2014. From a distance of nearly 81 miles (130 kilometers), it reveals detail of the smooth region on the comet's "body" section.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
This image, captured August 7, 2014, shows the diversity of surface structures on the comet's nucleus.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
The comet's "head" can be seen in the left of the frame as it casts a shadow over the "body" in this image released August 6, 2014.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
This image of the comet was taken on August 1, 2014, as Rosetta closed in its target.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta's mission started on March 2, 2004, when it was launched on a European Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta is named after the Rosetta Stone, the black basalt that provided the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs. Scientists think the mission will give them new clues about the origins of the solar system and life on Earth. The mission is spearheaded by the European Space Agency with key support from NASA.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
This photo shows Rosetta being tested before it was wrapped in insulating blankets and loaded on a rocket for launch.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta has massive solar wings to power the spacecraft. They were unfurled and checked out at the European Space Agency's test facilities before being packed up for liftoff.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
After its closest approach to Earth in November 2007, Rosetta captured this image of the planet.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta snapped this image of Earth in November 2009. The spacecraft was 393,328 miles from Earth.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta passed asteroid Steins in September 2008, giving scientists amazing close-ups of the asteroid's huge crater. The asteroid is about 3 miles in diameter.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta took this image of Mars as it looped through the solar system.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
This image was taken by an instrument on Rosetta's Philae lander just minutes before the spacecraft made its closest approach to Mars. Part of Rosetta and its solar arrays are visible.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
On July 10, 2010, Rosetta flew about 1,864 miles from asteroid Lutetia, which is 10 times larger than asteroid Steins.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
Look closely at the top of this picture. See that dot? That's Saturn. Rosetta snapped the picture of asteroid Lutetia and captured Saturn in the background.
Rosetta: The comet chaser
After taking pictures of Earth, Mars and asteroids, Rosetta was put into hibernation in May 2011 after it reached the outer part of the solar system. Mission managers woke it January 20, 2014.
