Comet Missions

The bilobed Jupiter-family comet orbited and landed on by ESA's Rosetta and Philae in 2014–2016 — the most closely studied comet in history.

A Jupiter-family comet whose bowling-pin-shaped nucleus was imaged by NASA's Deep Space 1 in 2001.

A Jupiter-family comet visited by ESA's Giotto in 1992 during its extended mission, after Giotto's earlier encounter with Halley.

The most famous comet, visible from Earth every ~76 years, whose return in 1986 was met by an international fleet including ESA's Giotto — and the parent of two annual meteor showers.

A small, hyperactive Jupiter-family comet flown past by NASA's EPOXI mission (the repurposed Deep Impact spacecraft) in 2010.

A Jupiter-family comet struck by NASA's Deep Impact probe in 2005 and later revisited by Stardust, revealing the composition beneath a comet's crust.

A Jupiter-family comet from which NASA's Stardust captured coma dust and returned it to Earth in 2006 — the first cometary sample return.