A truly poignant moment for the space exploration community today as the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft intentionally crashed into the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, bringing a historic twelve-year mission to a definitive end.

Rosetta spent its final hours transmitting incredibly high-resolution photographs and crucial gas analysis data right up until the moment of impact. Over the course of its life, this remarkable spacecraft gave us our first close-up look at a pristine remnant from the birth of our solar system, even dropping the tiny Philae lander onto the comet's rugged terrain. It is a bit sad to see the mission finish, but Rosetta is now resting permanently on the dusty, icy surface of the very world it spent years investigating, billions of kilometres away from home.