Rosetta is the first mission designed to orbit and land on a comet. The €1.4 billion exploration campaign, the first to undertake a lengthy exploration of a comet at close quarters, builds on the first fly-bys of comets in the 1980s led by NASA, ESA, Russia and Japan.

While the SpaceShipTwo crash investigation continues, the full impact on the vehicle’s design and operations, as well as the effect on Virgin Galactic’s schedule, remains unclear.

The tricky landing of a 100-kg probe on the comet’s surface Nov. 12 marks the crowning achievement in an already stunning exploration campaign.

An illustrated guide to Philae's deployment and landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, with the proble's thrusters, landing gear, harpoons and science instruments demystified.

Already a historic achievement, Europe's Rosetta mission marks first-ever touchdown on 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko

Rosetta's orbiter and lander have sent back first images of the 100-kg probe's descent.

During checks on the lander’s health overnight, mission managers found its active descent system, which uses a cold-gas thrust to avoid spacecraft rebound at the moment of touchdown, cannot be activated.