Which probe landed on a comet in 2014?

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Philae was the probe that landed on a comet in 2014. The European Space Agency lander separated from the Rosetta spacecraft and touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on November 12, 2014.

The landing was historic but unusually difficult. Philae's anchoring harpoons failed to deploy, and its thruster designed to press it against the surface did not fire. As a result, the lander bounced twice before making a final, uncontrolled touchdown in an awkward location and orientation.

Despite those problems, Philae achieved the first soft landing on a comet nucleus and transmitted the first images from a comet's surface. Its instruments also analyzed the comet's surface and gases directly. Rosetta is the common mix-up: it carried Philae and orbited the comet, but Rosetta itself did not land. OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa2 were separate asteroid missions.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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