Rosetta Spacecraft Spies Jet of Gases

The Rosetta spacecraft captured this sequence of images on July 29, 2015, showing a short-lived jet erupting from the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Launched in 2004, Rosetta completed a 10-year journey to the outer solar system, where it intercepted the comet in August 2014. The spacecraft is comprised of an orbiter and a lander named Philae. In November 2014, Philae landed on the comet’s nucleus. Its primary mission lasted two-and-a-half days. Rosetta will orbit the comet until the end of 2015.

Rosetta is an international mission led by the European Space Agency with support from NASA.