Born on November 12
Philae Lands on a Comet
The first touchdown on a comet.
Next: November 12, 2026
Where it comes from
This Story marks the anniversary of 12 November 2014, when the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission set its Philae lander down on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, the first soft landing on a comet. Rosetta had launched on 2 March 2004 and travelled 6.4 billion kilometres to reach the comet.
How it's celebrated
There is no organised observance, but the anniversary is a good moment to look again at what Rosetta and Philae found. ESA calls comets time capsules of material left over from when the Sun and planets formed, so this is a day to talk about where everything came from.
Did you know
Philae bounced on landing and flew for about two more hours before settling; Rosetta's camera finally spotted it wedged in a dark crack in September 2016.
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Scorpio · October 23 – November 21 · Water sign
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