Science & Environment

Rosetta crash lands on comet, brings historic mission to an end

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Journalist sit below a scale model of the Rosetta spacecraft at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, September 30, 2016. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski

The European Space Agency said the Rosetta spacecraft has crash-landed on a comet after an historic 12 years spent chasing it across more than 6 billion kilometers of space.

BERLIN The European Space Agency said the Rosetta spacecraft has crash-landed on a comet after an historic 12 years spent chasing it across more than 6 billion kilometers of space.

Scientists at the control center in Darmstadt clapped as hugged after screens showed the loss of signal as Rosetta touched down on the comet.

“Thank you Rosetta,” ESA Director General Jan Woerner tweeted after the landing was confirmed.

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan- Editing by Michael Nienaber)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-rosetta-landing-idUSKCN1201HD