Klim Ivanovich Churyumov and Svetlana Ivanovna Gerasimenko discovered the comet after a photographic plate exposed on the 11th of September 1969 captured a faint smudge near the edge of the frame. They named the new discovery 67P/Churyumov, Gerasimenko following their analysis at Kyiv University's Astronomical Observatory.
The nucleus measures roughly four kilometers across its longest dimension and two kilometers wide with a smaller lobe connecting to a larger one via a narrow neck structure. Scientists detected sixteen organic compounds within the ice and dust including acetamide, acetone, methyl isocyanate, propionaldehyde, and glycine as the only amino acid found so far.
Encounters with Jupiter successively altered the path of this Jupiter-family comet before moving the perihelion inward significantly on the 4th of February 1959. Future encounters will continue changing the orbit until the object either collides with a planet or escapes entirely.
European Space Agency launched the Rosetta spacecraft on the 2nd of March 2004 and successfully rendezvoused with Churyumov, Gerasimenko on the 6th of August 2014. The mission ended on the 30th of September 2016 when Rosetta landed in the Ma'at region after entering orbit around the nucleus on the 10th of September at roughly 100 kilometers distance.
Descent occurred on the 12th of November 2014 as Philae touched down on the Agilkia landing site but bounced twice before coming to rest after its third contact with the ground due to low gravity conditions. Contact was lost on the 15th of November 2014 because battery power dropped below operational levels and photographs taken by the orbiter located Philae inside a crack on the 2nd of September 2016.