Europe's Comet Chaser Rosetta Crash Lands to End 12-Year Mission

BERLIN — Europe's comet-chasing space probe Rosetta performed its final task on Friday, dipping out of orbit for a slow-motion crash onto the icy surface of the alien world it has been following for more than a decade.

Mission controllers lost contact with the probe as expected after it hit the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, marking the planned end of a 12-year mission, the European Space Agency said.