The Rosetta spacecraft was launched in 2004 with the intent to give the most in-depth understanding of a comet that humanity has to date. Last August, the spacecraft became the first to successfully rendezvous and orbit with a comet. Currently, Rosetta is mapping the comet to determine the safest place to land. In November the spacecraft’s robotic lander, Philae, will make its descent to the surface of the comet—and Sculpteo’s 3D printing services are helping in the process.

The Rosetta project was born more than 20 years ago, when the European Space Agency (ESA) decided to launch a study of a comet. Eventually, the agency chose the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P/C-G). This marked the beginning of the most ambitious study of a comet to date.

For an impression of the scale, the comet is 4.5 km × 4.1 km across, and the Rosetta spacecraft is only 2.8 m × 2.1 × 2.0 m in size. Relatively speaking, the mission is like throwing a pen-tip at a golf ball—which is sitting on Mars.

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