The Rosetta team named euronews’ People of 2014

The euronews newsroom has elected the men and women working for the Rosetta mission as euronews’ ‘person’ of the year for 2014.

On November 12, 2014, looking to understand the origins and evolution of the Solar System, a tiny probe called Philae touched down on 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, a distant comet deep in space.

To reach its target, Philae’s mothership, Rosetta, had travelled some 6.5 billion kilometres over 10 years. Despite a rough landing, the mission is considered the most scientifically significant step in spaceflight since the Moon landings in 1969.

The Rosetta team’s tireless work enabled this major milestone in the history of the European Space Agency, and of space exploration.

But there is more to it: not only is Rosetta the science story of the year, but the mission also successfully captured our imagination. For a moment, mankind gazed at the stars, looking to glimpse at our past, and hopefully, at our future. We have the men and women of the Rosetta team to thank for that.

The euronews person of the year is selected from a list of people, or groups of people, that had a significant impact, either positive or negative, on the year.

The 2014 shortlist was composed of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Rosetta team, ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Sakharov Prize winner Denis Mukwege and Pope Francis.

euronews person of the year, 2013 – Edward Snowden

euronews person of the year, 2012 – Malala Yousafzai