--- title: Philae Lander Found on Comet 2 Years After It Went Missing description: The Philae lander, which went missing in 2014 after making a historic landing on a comet, was found wedged into a “dark crack” on the comet canonical: https://time.com/4479221/philae-lander-rosetta-space-probe/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-05T15:22:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:07:32.371Z article:section: Science og:title: Philae Lander Found on Comet 2 Years After It Went Missing og:description: It got lost on the comet in 2014 after a historic landing og:url: https://time.com/4479221/philae-lander-rosetta-space-probe/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b46083bbbc05497/6988a4c8196cf45cec03d115/philae-probe-comet-found.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Philae-comet-found og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Philae Lander Found on Comet 2 Years After It Went Missing twitter:description: It got lost on the comet in 2014 after a historic landing twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b46083bbbc05497/6988a4c8196cf45cec03d115/philae-probe-comet-found.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Philae Lander Found on Comet 2 Years After It Went Missing  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Sep 5, 2016 3:22 PM UTC  This picture obtained from the European Space Agency (ESA) on Sept. 5, 2016 shows images of the landing craft "Philae" viewed for the first time since its crash landing, captured by ORIS narrow-angle camera taken on Sept. 2, 2016\. Cameras onboard Europe's comet orbiter Rosetta has spotted the tiny lander Philae for the first time since its crash-landing in November 2014, the European Space Agency said. This picture obtained from the European Space Agency (ESA) on Sept. 5, 2016 shows images of the landing craft "Philae" viewed for the first time since its crash landing, captured by ORIS narrow-angle camera taken on Sept. 2, 2016\. Cameras onboard Europe's comet orbiter Rosetta has spotted the tiny lander Philae for the first time since its crash-landing in November 2014, the European Space Agency said.European Space Agency/AFP/Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Sep 5, 2016 3:22 PM UTC The [Philae lander](http://time.com/4220102/goodbye-philae-lander-comet/), which [went missing in 2014](http://time.com/4424055/comet-philae-farewell-earth/) after making a historic landing on a comet, has been found wedged into a “dark crack” on the comet, astronomers said Monday. The European Space Agency’s Rosetta space probe said a high-resolution camera has finally captured an image of the Philae lander, which got lost on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko after a rough touchdown caused it to bounce and then fly away to another part of the comet. “This remarkable discovery comes at the end of a long, painstaking search,” Patrick Martin, ESA’s Rosetta mission manager said in a [statement](http://www.esa.int/Our%5FActivities/Space%5FScience/Rosetta/Philae%5Ffound). “We were beginning to think that Philae would remain lost forever. It is incredible we have captured this at the final hour.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4479221/philae-lander-rosetta-space-probe/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4479221/philae-lander-rosetta-space-probe/"},"headline":"Philae Lander Found on Comet 2 Years After It Went Missing","datePublished":"2016-09-05T15:22:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:07:32.371Z","description":"It got lost on the comet in 2014 after a historic landing","url":"https://time.com/4479221/philae-lander-rosetta-space-probe/","keywords":["Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b46083bbbc05497/6988a4c8196cf45cec03d115/philae-probe-comet-found.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b46083bbbc05497/6988a4c8196cf45cec03d115/philae-probe-comet-found.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Philae-comet-found","caption":"This picture obtained from the European Space Agency (ESA) on Sept. 5, 2016 shows images of the landing craft \"Philae\" viewed for the first time since its crash landing, captured by ORIS narrow-angle camera taken on Sept. 2, 2016. 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