Europe’s comet probe Rosetta ends 12-year mission

After 12 years of hurtling through space in pursuit of a comet, the Rosetta probe ended its mission with a slow-motion crash onto the icy surface of the alien world it was sent out to study.

Mission controllers lost contact with the probe, as expected, after it hit the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, said the European Space Agency.

“Farewell Rosetta, you’ve done the job,” said mission manager Patrick Martin. “That is space science at its best.”