Photos: Europe's Rosetta Comet Mission in Pictures

Philae Discovery Image

ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Here is the Philae discovery image by Rosetta from Sept. 2, 2016 without the red circle. Philae can still be seen, but it's a tough job.

Finding Philae

ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

This montage of images shows the location of Philae on the surface of Comet 67P.

ROLIS Captures Descent of Philae

ESA/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS/DLR

This photo from the European Space Agency is the Philae lander's view of its landing site on Comet 67P/C-G's surface. Image release Nov. 13, 2014. [See Space.com's full coverage.]

See more amazing comet photos by Rosetta in this Space.com gallery.

Rosetta navigation camera image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

ESA/Rosetta/NavCam – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

This single-frame Rosetta navigation camera image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken on October 19, 2014, at a distance of approximately 4.9 miles (7.9 km) from the comet's surface and released on May 28, 2015. Read the Full Story.

ESA/Rosetta/NavCam – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

This NavCam image of Comet 67P/C-G taken on Oct. 23, 2014 and released on May 5. The image shows a feature of the comet known as the cliffs of Hathor, which are roughly 2,952 feet (900 meters) high. Read the Full Story.

Surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

ESA/Rosetta/NavCam – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

This image of the rocky, lifeless surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, taken by the NavCam instrument on the Rosetta spacecraft on Oct. 27, 2014, and released on May 26, 2015. Read the Full Story.

The Hatmehit Region

ESA/Rosetta/NavCam – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

The Hatmehit region on the small lobe of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as seen by NavCam on November 12, 2014. This image was released on May 28, 2015. Read the Full Story.

Surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Rocky

ESA/Rosetta/NavCam – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

This image of the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, taken by the NavCam instrument on the Rosetta spacecraft on Oct. 26, 2014, and released on May 26, 2015. Read the Full Story.

Three Boulders on Comet 67P/C-G

ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Three unusual boulders are found in the Aker region of Comet 67P/C-G, on the comet’s large lobe (marked with square). Image released May 18, 2015.

Boulders on Comet 67P/C-G

ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

This image of the boulders on Comet 67P/C-G was taken by OSIRIS on Sept. 1, 2014, from a distance of 18 miles (29 km.).

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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.