--- title: Philae Comet Lander: Astronomers Say Goodbye description: The first lander in history to touch down on a comet in transit. canonical: https://time.com/4220102/goodbye-philae-lander-comet/ author: NBC News article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-12T21:47:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:03:09.261Z article:section: Science og:title: Astronomers Say Goodbye to the Philae Comet Lander og:description: The first lander in history to touch down on a comet in transit og:url: https://time.com/4220102/goodbye-philae-lander-comet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt469cac45fcd703ad/69887d91cd1bba2cbb6ff6bf/philae-comet-lander.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: FILE - In this Nov. 12, 2014 file photo a model of Rosetta lander Philae stands on a model of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, at the European Space Agency ESA in Darmstadt, Germany. European scientists said Friday Feb. 12, 2016 they have stopped sendin og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Astronomers Say Goodbye to the Philae Comet Lander twitter:description: The first lander in history to touch down on a comet in transit twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt469cac45fcd703ad/69887d91cd1bba2cbb6ff6bf/philae-comet-lander.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Astronomers Say Goodbye to the Philae Comet Lander > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Future Proof: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Future Proof is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Making sense of the climate and energy economy. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=ab5b049b-f2c7-4330-a6d5-797a5fd0c015&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) by [Devin Coldewey / NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## Devin Coldewey / NBC News Feb 12, 2016 9:47 PM UTC  A model of Rosetta lander Philae stands on a model of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, at the European Space Agency ESA in Darmstadt, Germany, on Nov. 12, 2014. A model of Rosetta lander Philae stands on a model of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, at the European Space Agency ESA in Darmstadt, Germany, on Nov. 12, 2014. Michael Probst—AP by [Devin Coldewey / NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## Devin Coldewey / NBC News Feb 12, 2016 9:47 PM UTC The time has finally come to say goodbye to the Philae lander, the first in history to land on a comet in transit — though with a rough touchdown that ultimately caused an early demise. “Unfortunately, the probability of Philae re-establishing contact with our team at the DLR Lander Control Center is almost zero, and we will no longer be sending any commands,” said Philae project manager Stephan Ulamec [in a German Aerospace Center news release](http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10081/151%5Fread-16721/#/gallery/21960) on Friday. Philae was launched from the Rosetta probe in 2014 to land on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, but a malfunction led to the craft [bouncing across](http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/rosetta-images-show-philae-lander-bouncing-across-comet-n250156)… [_Read the rest of this story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/good-night-sweet-probe-astronomers-say-farewell-philae-comet-lander-n517676?cid=par-time%5F20160212) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4220102/goodbye-philae-lander-comet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4220102/goodbye-philae-lander-comet/"},"headline":"Astronomers Say Goodbye to the Philae Comet Lander","datePublished":"2016-02-12T21:47:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:03:09.261Z","description":"The first lander in history to touch down on a comet in transit","url":"https://time.com/4220102/goodbye-philae-lander-comet/","keywords":["Space","astronomy","NASA","Science topic","space travel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt469cac45fcd703ad/69887d91cd1bba2cbb6ff6bf/philae-comet-lander.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Devin Coldewey / NBC News"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt469cac45fcd703ad/69887d91cd1bba2cbb6ff6bf/philae-comet-lander.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FILE - In this Nov. 12, 2014 file photo a model of Rosetta lander Philae stands on a model of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, at the European Space Agency ESA in Darmstadt, Germany. 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