Rosetta is the first mission designed to both orbit and land on a comet. It will complete the most detailed study of a comet ever attempted. Rosetta launched in February 2004 and will meet its target, Comet 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko, in 2014.

This artist's impression shows the Rosetta spacecraft, its lander, and a comet.

The Rosetta lander will be released onto the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko. It will make the most detailed analysis ever made of a comet's icy nucleus and its surface.

This artist's impression shows the Rosetta lander anchored to the comet’s surface, it will work for a minimum mission target of 65 hours, but its operations may continue for many months.

The European Space Agency's mission of cometary exploration is named after the famous 'Rosetta Stone'. This slab was the key to unraveling the civilization of ancient Egypt. Just as the Rosetta Stone provided the key to an ancient civilization, so ESA's Rosetta spacecraft will unlock the mysteries of the oldest building blocks of our Solar System – the comets.

The comet orbits the Sun once every 6.57 years. Its orbit brings it closer to the Sun than Mars at the closest point (perihelion), and swings it a bit beyond the orbit of Jupiter at its furthest point from the Sun (aphelion).

After skimming by the Earth at just 1954 km on 4 March 2005, Rosetta turned its Navigation Cameras back towards our home planet and recorded a series of black and white images.