Philae lander found on comet almost two years after going missing

'Amazing' images show probe that vanished in 2014

An artist's impression of Rosettas lander Philae (back view) on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. (Getty)

The Philae comet lander has been discovered almost two years after going missing - and just two weeks before scientists were due to deliberately crash its mother ship.

The European Space Agency (ESA) found the probe Philae after it appeared in new images downloaded from the Rosetta probe.

Philae was dropped onto a comet by Rosetta in 2014 but went missing after its battery ran flat.

The European Space Agency found its lost Philae lander wedged in a "dark crack" on the side of a comet (PA/ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team ) (PA/ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team)

The images show Philae wedged into a crack on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

“With only a month left of the Rosetta mission, we are so happy to have finally imaged Philae, and to see it in such amazing detail,” Cecilia Tubiana a member of the OSIRIS camera team, who were the first people to see the images, said.

Rosetta made the discovery weeks before it is set to be crashed into Comet 679P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in a mission that would result in communications with the probe ceasing.

Patrick Martin, ESA’s Rosetta Mission Manager, said the discovery has come in the final hours of a long hunt.

“This remarkable discovery comes at the end of a long, painstaking search. We were beginning to think that Philae would remain lost forever. It is incredible we have captured this at the final hour,” he said.

Philae was last seen when it landed on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. It bounced and flew for another two hours before going into hibernation.

It then woke up to communicate with the Rosetta probe briefly in 2015 when it came closer to the sun and had more power available.

But scientists held little hope for the lander's recovery.

“The chances for Philae to contact our team at our lander control centre are unfortunately getting close to zero,” project manager Stephan Ulamec said earlier this year. “We are not sending commands any more and it would be very surprising if we were to receive a signal again.”

The news comes just over a month after the ESA decided to start powering down the Philae lander and asked people to send in pictures to send goodbye to the probe.