--- description: Selfies are no longer just a human trend title: Spacecraft Snaps Casual Selfie With Passing Comet image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5595cbbe8bf67ce/6986a2aa810bbbc931c93596/rosetta_mission_selfie_at_comet.png?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Space](/tag/space/) ## Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Spacecraft Snaps Casual Selfie With Passing Comet by [Adam Glanzman](/author/adam-glanzman/) ## Adam Glanzman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 10, 2014 9:59 PM CUT  The Rosetta spacecraft snapped a ‘selfie’ with comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on Sept. 7, 2014\. Two images with different exposure times were combined to bring out the faint details in this very high contrast situation. The Rosetta spacecraft snapped a ‘selfie’ with comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on Sept. 7, 2014\. Two images with different exposure times were combined to bring out the faint details in this very high contrast situation.ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA by [Adam Glanzman](/author/adam-glanzman/) ## Adam Glanzman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 10, 2014 9:59 PM CUT The [Mars Curiosity Rover](http://time.com/2913065/mars-curiosity-rover-selfie/ "undefined") isn’t the only lunar explorer that knows how to take a selfie these days. The first of its kind—the Rosetta Spacecraft was designed to orbit and land on a comet in outer-space. This mission, which was launched by the European Space Agency in 2004, has finally approached the comet it was set to land on, and was at a distance of approximately 50 kilometers away from the comet when the selfie was snapped. A special camera onboard Rosetta’s [Philae Lander](http://www.esa.int/Our%5FActivities/Space%5FScience/Rosetta/The%5FRosetta%5Flander "undefined") called CIVA (Comet Nucleus Infrared and Visible Analyzer) captured the image above using multiple exposures to bring out the fine details in both the comet and spacecraft. Come November, the Rosetta Spacecraft will deploy its Philae Lander and attempt history’s first comet landing. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3319029/spacecraft-comet-selfie/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3319029/spacecraft-comet-selfie/"},"headline":"Spacecraft Snaps Casual Selfie With Passing Comet","datePublished":"2014-09-10T21:59:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:06:49.437Z","description":"Selfies are no longer just a human trend","url":"https://time.com/3319029/spacecraft-comet-selfie/","keywords":["Space","NASA","space travel","esa","Comet"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5595cbbe8bf67ce/6986a2aa810bbbc931c93596/rosetta_mission_selfie_at_comet.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Adam Glanzman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/adam-glanzman/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5595cbbe8bf67ce/6986a2aa810bbbc931c93596/rosetta_mission_selfie_at_comet.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rosetta_mission_selfie_at_comet","caption":"The Rosetta spacecraft snapped a ‘selfie’ with comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on Sept. 7, 2014. Two images with different exposure times were combined to bring out the faint details in this very high contrast situation.","creditText":"ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3319029/spacecraft-comet-selfie/","name":"Spacecraft Snaps Casual Selfie With Passing Comet"}}]}] ```