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By the numbers: 12 years chasing a comet

Picture shows view into the control room at the European Space Agency sea in Darmstadt, Germany, Friday, Sept. 30, 2016. Rosetta will be impacted on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Friday, marking the end of the twelve years lasting Rosetta mission. (AP Photo/Michael Probst) Picture shows view into the control room at the European Space Agency sea in Darmstadt, Germany, Friday, Sept. 30, 2016. Rosetta will be impacted on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Friday, marking the end of the twelve years lasting Rosetta mission. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

By Associated Press September 30, 2016 3 min read

BERLIN (AP) – It’s been 4,595 days since the Rosetta space probe was lifted into orbit on the first stage of its 12-year mission to chase down comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Here is a look at some of the other numbers, big and small, surrounding the mission:

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SPACE ODYSSEY

As journeys go, this one was epic. According to the European Space Agency the Rosetta probe has travelled some 7,971,290,298 kilometers (4,953,359,791 miles) during its lifetime – almost 21,000 times the distance from the Earth to the moon.