Photos: Europe's Rosetta Comet Mission in Pictures

1st Comet Panorama from Philae Lander

The European Space Agency's Philae lander took this first panorama from the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko after its historic landing on Nov. 12, 2014. The body of the lander is superimposed on the image.[See Space.com's full coverage.]

Comet Landscape of 67P by Rosetta

This previously unreleased image shows the strange, alien landscape of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko as seen by the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft in late October 2014. [See Space.com's full coverage.]

Comet Panorama from Philae Lander

This first panorama from the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko was captured by the Philae lander on Nov. 12, 2014 after its historic landing.[See Space.com's full coverage.]

Philae on Comet

This photo from the European Space Agency is the Philae lander's view of its landing site on Comet 67P/C-G's surface. Image release Nov. 13, 2014. [See Space.com's full coverage.]

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from 131 Feet (40 Meters)

The Philae lander's down-looking descent ROLIS imager obtained this image when it was about 131 feet (40 m) above the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.[See Space.com's full coverage.]

ROLIS Captures Descent of Philae

Comet 67P/CG appears in an image taken by the ROLIS instrument on the Philae lander as it descended from Rosetta spacecraft on Nov. 12, 2014, from a distance of approximately 1.9 miles (3 km) from the surface. [See Space.com's full coverage.]

Philae Lander Departure

Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera observed the Philae lander with legs and antennas deployed after departing from Rosetta to land on Comet 67P/CG on Nov. 12, 2014. [See Space.com's full coverage.]

First Touchdown Point Close-Up

The first touchdown point of the Philae lander is marked in this image taken by Rosetta's OSIRIS camera at a distance of 18.6 miles (30 km) on Sept. 14, 2014. The lander has not been identified yet. [See Space.com's full coverage.]

Wide Angle View of Philae Descending

ESA Rosetta spacecraft's OSIRIS camera showed the lander Philae (in red circle) descending to Comet 67P/CG on Nov. 12, 2014. [See Space.com's full coverage.]

First Touchdown Point

Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera shows the location of the first touchdown point of the Philae lander. Comet probe Philae may have bounced twice before coming to a stop on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta took the image from a distance of 31.1 miles (50 km) on Sept. 2, 2014, prior to landing. [See Space.com's full coverage.]