Rosetta's Comet Mission. In 2014, a European spacecraft named Rosetta did the unthinkable. It chased a comet speeding at 135,000 kilometers per hour and dropped a lander onto its surface. After six billion kilometers and over ten years in space, Rosetta released Philae, which bounced twice before landing in a dark crevice. Despite weak sunlight, it sent back stunning data, revealing carbon-based molecules on the comet, the basic ingredients for life. This discovery revived the idea that life mig