--- description: Space probe landed on a speeding comet for the first time ever on Wednesday title: See Pictures of Philae Detaching From Rosetta image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94e64f2764f5855e/6987684e8e06017300458843/philae-detaches-rosetta-comet.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&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 # See Pictures of Philae Detaching From Rosetta by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 12, 2014 4:19 PM CUT  The Philae lander shortly after separation from Rosetta, on Nov. 12, 2014. The Philae lander shortly after separation from Rosetta, on Nov. 12, 2014.ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA/EPA by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 12, 2014 4:19 PM CUT A space probe landed on a speeding comet for the first time ever on Wednesday morning. More than a decade ago, Rosetta and a lander called Philae set off to find the commit 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The European Space Agency’s Philae lander separated from the Rosetta orbiter at 09:03 GMT on Tuesday and touched down on the speeding comet around 4:00 GMT. Scientists hope that exploring the comet will answer questions about how planets are formed. ### See the Rosetta Spacecraft's Best Photos of Comet 67P  This image shows comet 67P/CG and was acquired by the ROLIS instrument on the Philae lander during descent on Nov. 12, 2014, 14:38:41 UT from a distance of approximately 3 km from the surface. ESA/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS/DLR/H  A 'selfie' composite image from a camera on the Rosetta mission’s Philae comet lander shows Comet 67P. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM  Comet 67P on Oct. 28, 2014. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM  Comet 67P in a photo released on Aug. 6, 2014. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM  Comet 67P on Sept. 26, 2014. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM  Comet 67P on Oct. 18, 2014 ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM  Comet 67P on Nov. 4, 2014. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM  Comet 67P on Aug. 3, 2014. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3581026/philae-europe-rosetta-comet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3581026/philae-europe-rosetta-comet/"},"headline":"See Pictures of Philae Detaching From Rosetta","datePublished":"2014-11-12T16:19:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:05.323Z","description":"Space probe landed on a speeding comet for the first time ever","url":"https://time.com/3581026/philae-europe-rosetta-comet/","keywords":["Space","NASA","Space Exploration","esa","Comet"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94e64f2764f5855e/6987684e8e06017300458843/philae-detaches-rosetta-comet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94e64f2764f5855e/6987684e8e06017300458843/philae-detaches-rosetta-comet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Philae as seen from Rosetta","caption":"Philae as seen from Rosetta","creditText":"ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA/EPA","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/3581026/philae-europe-rosetta-comet/","name":"See Pictures of Philae Detaching From Rosetta"}}]}] ```