--- title: Farewell to Rosetta as Spacecraft Crash Lands into Comet description: Europe's Rosetta probe spacecraft will end its 12-year mission by crashing into Comet 67P, which it has been orbiting since 2014 canonical: https://time.com/4514226/rosetta-european-space-agency-comet-67p-collision/ author: Feliz Solomon article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-30T08:52:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:37:11.764Z og:title: Farewell to Rosetta as Spacecraft Crash Lands Into Comet og:description: Ending a 12-year mission that captured hearts the world over og:url: https://time.com/4514226/rosetta-european-space-agency-comet-67p-collision/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb53f03409f94fe5f/6988a828524fc0b909df9ac1/gettyimages-458839272.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: ESA Attempts To Land Probe On Comet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Farewell to Rosetta as Spacecraft Crash Lands Into Comet twitter:description: Ending a 12-year mission that captured hearts the world over twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb53f03409f94fe5f/6988a828524fc0b909df9ac1/gettyimages-458839272.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Historic Space Mission Comes to an End as Rosetta Spacecraft Crash-Lands into Comet > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Feliz Solomon](https://time.com/author/feliz-solomon/) ## Feliz Solomon Sep 30, 2016 8:52 AM UTC  The Rosetta probe (L) and Philae lander are pictured above the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet, November 10, 2014 The Rosetta probe (L) and Philae lander are pictured above the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet, November 10, 2014 ESA / Getty Images by [Feliz Solomon](https://time.com/author/feliz-solomon/) ## Feliz Solomon Sep 30, 2016 8:52 AM UTC An epic — and sometimes [emotional](http://time.com/4424055/comet-philae-farewell-earth/) — [space mission](http://time.com/3573078/comet-rosetta-landing-philae/) that spanned 12 years and showed us [spectacular close-up images](http://time.com/3581141/see-rosetta-photos-comet-67p/) of another world will end on Friday, when the Rosetta spacecraft makes a [controlled descent](http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2016/09/27/how-to-follow-rosettas-grand-finale/) to the comet’s surface. The European Space Agency (ESA) said the spacecraft was ordered to change course Thursday and began barreling toward Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which it has been orbiting for the past two years. Rosetta will make a low velocity crash into the comet around 7:30 a.m. ET. The spacecraft is not expected to survive the impact. The ESA said that as the [aging machinery ](http://www.esa.int/Our%5FActivities/Space%5FScience/Rosetta/Rosetta%5Fs%5Fgrand%5Ffinale%5Ffrequently%5Fasked%5Fquestions)was “reaching the end of its natural life,” the mission will conclude with a collision that will bring Rosetta close enough for one last, detailed look at the 2.5-mile wide ball of ice and dust. > [](https://twitter.com/Cmdr%5FHadfield/status/781694967416754176) The ESA dispatched Rosetta on March 2, 2004 to begin its pursuit of 67P. It took more than [10 years](http://time.com/3573078/comet-rosetta-landing-philae/?iid=sr-link3) to reach the comet and slip into its orbit. On Nov. 12, 2014, Rosetta launched the [Philae lander](http://time.com/4479221/philae-lander-rosetta-space-probe/) to 67P’s icy floor, achieving the [first landing on a comet ](http://time.com/3582056/comet-philae-landing-big-deal/)in the history of space exploration. **Read More:** [_Why the First Comet Landing Matters_](http://time.com/3582056/comet-philae-landing-big-deal/) The mission, which cost a total of about $1.8 billion, [thrilled](http://time.com/3581026/philae-europe-rosetta-comet/) scientists and the public alike. Rosetta captured data of unprecedented detail that scientists hope will help the world to better understand the origins of the Earth. The ESA will livestream Rosetta’s [final rendezvous](http://livestream.com/ESA/rosettagrandfinale) with Comet 67P. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4514226/rosetta-european-space-agency-comet-67p-collision/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4514226/rosetta-european-space-agency-comet-67p-collision/"},"headline":"Historic Space Mission Comes to an End as Rosetta Spacecraft Crash-Lands into Comet","datePublished":"2016-09-30T08:52:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:37:11.764Z","description":"Rosetta will make a controlled, low velocity crash into Comet 67P around 7:30 a.m. ET","url":"https://time.com/4514226/rosetta-european-space-agency-comet-67p-collision/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Space","space travel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb53f03409f94fe5f/6988a828524fc0b909df9ac1/gettyimages-458839272.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Feliz Solomon","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/feliz-solomon/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb53f03409f94fe5f/6988a828524fc0b909df9ac1/gettyimages-458839272.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ESA Attempts To Land Probe On Comet","caption":"ESA Attempts To Land Probe On Comet","creditText":"ESA / Getty Images","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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4514226/rosetta-european-space-agency-comet-67p-collision/","name":"Historic Space Mission Comes to an End as Rosetta Spacecraft Crash-Lands into Comet"}}]}] ```