Rosetta spacecraft checks in with Earth
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/rosetta_philae_free.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
If the Rosetta mission goes as planned, the orbiting spacecraft (upper right) will send the robotic lander Philae (smaller probe) to explore the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, as shown in this artist’s illustration.
ATG Medialab and C. Carreau/ESA