Spectacular Finish To Twelve Year Comet-Chasing Mission

After an over six billion km run, a European satellite is going out with a bang. The Rosetta probe has spent 12 years chasing a comet through space, the last two of which orbiting the celestial body, but officials with the European Space Agency say the probe and comet’s distance from the sun is growing too great for Rosetta’s solar panels to collect power. Instead, they’re going to crash the thing right into the comet. It’ll take a few pictures and measure a few gases on the way down, but has provided more than enough data over the past dozen years to keep scientists busy for years to come. Check out the trajectory the probe will take in the video below.