- No Place Like Home
Long-Lost Comet Lander Finally Found
After a nearly two-year search, scientists have spotted the Philae space probe, which landed on a comet in November 2014 and quickly disappeared.
After searching for years, the European Space Agency has finally spotted the little robot that landed on a comet. Deployed by the comet-orbiting spacecraft Rosetta, which left Earth in 2004, Philae slowly rendezvoused with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Nov. 12, 2014.
But when it got to the comet’s surface, Philae’s anchors failed. Instead of sticking its landing, Philae bounced.
It flew over the comet for an agonizing two hours. Then it bounced again. And tumbled.
When the lander finally came to rest, no one knew where it was. For a while, the best clues came from photos Philae sent back to Earth, which showed that it hadn’t quite landed upright. Problematically, it also looked like Philae had also settled near the
