Earth severs link with comet probe

Rosetta will remain in orbit for another two months before crashing on Sept 30

Earth bid a final farewell to robot lab Philae on Wednesday, severing communications after a year-long silence from the pioneering probe hurtling through space on a comet.

Writing an extraordinary chapter in space history, the washing machine-sized craft was the first to land on a comet - primeval rubble from the formation of the Solar System.