Highlights From ESA's Rosetta Mission Landing On Comet 67P

Space.com

The Philae lander from European Space Agency's Rosetta mission's landed on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.   Credit:  ESA - European Space Agency

Transcript

00:00This is the moment we made history by landing on a comet.

00:10Ten years ago, our Rosetta mission got up close and personal with a comet,

00:17landing a probe called Philae on the surface to directly study the properties of a comet for the first time ever.

00:26The mission was groundbreaking. It was only the seventh celestial object we have landed on before.

00:34It was an ambitious journey filled with many ups and downs.

00:38But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's take a look back at the mission ten years on.

00:44Comets are large objects made of dust and ice that have elliptical orbits around the sun,

00:58which stretch far out into the outer edges of the solar system.

01:02They are believed to be left over from when the planets formed,

01:06and scientists think they could hold the answers to how life formed on Earth,

01:11why we have water on Earth, and how the solar system evolved.

01:17You may recognise comets from their distinctive bright tail,

01:21caused by the sun heating up the frozen comet core as they head towards the inner solar system,

01:28leaving behind this bright streak of dust and gas.

01:32Most comets are too small and far away to see from Earth,

01:36even with some of the biggest telescopes.

01:39And when they do come close, their bright tail obscures our view of the actual comet itself,

01:45making it hard to see and study from Earth.

01:48That's where our Rosetta mission comes in.

01:51Rosetta was launched in March 2004 on one of our Ariane 5 rockets.

02:05From here, it set off on its 10-year-long journey to Comet 67P, Duryumov-Gerasimenko.

02:14The comet was chosen as it originated in the Cowper Belt,

02:18but does not venture out much farther than Jupiter anymore,

02:21making it perfect to align with Rosetta's journey.

02:24However, the journey was anything but simple.

02:28Rosetta required some energy boosts along the way,

02:32starting with the gravity assist of Earth, just a year after launch,

02:36which sent the spacecraft on towards Mars for another boost.

02:41From here, Rosetta came back to Earth before passing by the diamond-shaped asteroid Steinez,

02:48and returning back to Earth for one final boost.

02:51Rosetta then got on its way to deeper space,

02:54flying past the huge ancient rock Letizia, grabbing photos and data along the way.

03:01After all of this excitement, as Rosetta travelled on farther from the Sun,

03:06it did not have enough solar power to operate fully.

03:10So was put into standby mode, sending the spacecraft into a two-year, seven-month and twelve-day slumber.

03:17In January 2014, the world sent Rosetta a wake-up call,

03:24and the team got sent to work to make sure all the instruments on board were working after the long break.

03:31The spacecraft still had ten more manoeuvres to perform,

03:35to align it correctly with the comet,

03:38and to get it to the right speed so it would be captured by the comet's gravity

03:42and not be flung off into space.

03:52As Rosetta approached Comet 67P, scientists spotted something unusual.

03:58The team expected to see that the central part of the comet, its nucleus,

04:03is sort of shaped like a potato,

04:05but instead, the images Rosetta sent back resembled more of a rubber duck shape.

04:11It had two lobes, almost as if the two comets had slammed into each other and bonded.

04:17It looked like nothing we had ever examined in the solar system before.

04:22This made landing Feely a bit more complicated.

04:26The complex shape of the comet made for a complex gravity and a strange rotation situation,

04:33which made flying around it very complicated.

04:37There were also craters, cliffs, sinkholes and boulders the size of houses,

04:42which had to be taken into account.

04:45Rosetta spent a few weeks analysing the comet,

04:48sending back information so the experts could determine where was best to land.

04:53Typically landing sites, for example on Mars, take years to select,

04:58so for Feely it happened exceptionally fast.

05:02No lander had attempted to make a soft landing on a comet before,

05:07so there was a lot at stake.

05:09Finally, the experts decided on the perfect landing spot for Feely,

05:14and the probe was sent down,

05:16and the world held its breath for seven hours to hear if the spacecraft landed successfully.

05:24Touchdown was confirmed at 1703 Central European Time on the 12th of November,

05:30but there was something strange about the data returned.

05:34Soon scientists, flight dynamics specialists and engineers concluded

05:39that Feely did not just touch down once on the comet, but three times.

05:45The harpoons that were meant to dig Feely into the comet's surface securely

05:50had not fired, and the lander appeared to be rotating after the first touchdown.

05:55And then, the lander lifted from the surface, for one hour and fifty minutes.

06:02During that time, it travelled about one kilometre at a speed of 38 centimetres per second.

06:09It then made a smaller, second hop, travelling at about three centimetres per second,

06:15and landing in its final resting place seven minutes later.

06:20This left Feely in an awkward angle,

06:23but it was still able to conduct its onboard experiments,

06:26and send data back down to us here on Earth.

06:30However, the landing spot had limited sunlight,

06:33meaning the solar panels could not be charged,

06:36and Feely eventually lost power after 57 hours.

06:41In the end, about 80% of the planned science was completed,

06:45not bad considering the circumstances.

06:48Meanwhile, Rosetta continued to study the environment of the comet,

06:52studying the dust particles which flew off as it became more active on its approach to the Sun,

06:58and monitored the changes on the surface.

07:01After 211 days, Rosetta noticed a strange signal.

07:07Scientists analysed the data and realised Feely had woken up,

07:11after seven months in hibernation.

07:15Engineers determined that Feely was exposed to sufficient sunlight

07:19to heat it to an acceptable operating temperature,

07:22and to generate electricity.

07:25This allowed for the experts to home in on the final resting place of Feely,

07:29and allow us to say a final goodbye.

07:39After becoming the first spacecraft to orbit a comet,

07:42and the first to deploy a lander, Feely, in November 2014,

07:47Rosetta continued to monitor the comet's evolution,

07:50surviving the harsh environment of the comet for 786 days,

07:56making a few dramatic flybys close to its surface,

07:59surviving several unexpected outbursts from the comet,

08:03and recovered from two spacecraft safe modes.

08:08After almost two years in operation around the comet,

08:11and 12 years in space,

08:13Rosetta's own mission would also come to an end on the surface of the comet,

08:17with a controlled impact.

08:19Confirmation of the end of the mission arrived at our control centre

08:24at 13.19 Central European summer time,

08:28with the loss of Rosetta's signal upon impact.

08:32The descent gave Rosetta the opportunity to study the comet

08:36right up until its last moment.

08:39The world may have said goodbye to Rosetta,

08:41but its legacy will not be forgotten.

08:44Rosetta changed our view of how the solar system formed,

08:48how the planets were made,

08:50and gave a glimpse at how life could have begun here on Earth.

09:06because it was the body of the comet,

09:09work for her yon,

09:11and their mission to achieve the comet's size.

09:13Life could never happen in a place that was more unprecedented than a comet.

09:16Be a glimpse at the comet's intention.

09:18For this place,

09:20the moment the comet has been modified to achieve the comet,

09:21and the comet's clingings are earlier.

09:23It is based on the comet's intention,

09:25which in the comet's origin,

09:27is the moment the waves of the comet's orbit,

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