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The European Space Agency's lander Philae touched down on 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, becoming the first spacecraft to land on a comet.
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European Space Agency
European organisation dedicated to space exploration
The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European integration. Its 2025 annual budget…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Philae (spacecraft)
Robotic European Space Agency lander that accompanied the Rosetta spacecraft
Philae was a robotic European Space Agency lander that accompanied the Rosetta spacecraft until it separated to land on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, ten years and eight months after departing Earth. On 12 November 2014, Philae touched down on the comet, but it bounced when…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
Periodic contact binary comet
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko is a Jupiter-family comet. It is originally from the Kuiper belt and has an orbital period of 6.45 years as of 2012, a rotation period of approximately 12.4 hours, and a maximum velocity of 135,000 km/h. Churyumov–Gerasimenko is approximately 4.3 by 4.1…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Comet
Natural object in space that releases gas
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or coma surrounding the nucleus, and sometimes a tail of gas and dust gas…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)