Commanded Journey: At An End. Rosetta Falls Silent.

So it has all just now drawn to a close, thus, from Seamus Haney:

". . .And lightening? One meaning of that
Beyond the usual sense of alleviation,
Illumination, and so on, is this:

A phenomenal instant when the spirit flares
With pure exhilaration. . . ."

Here's the bit from ESA this early Friday morning.

. . . .ESA’s historic Rosetta mission has concluded as planned, with the controlled impact onto the comet it had been investigating for more than two years.

Confirmation of the end of the mission arrived at ESA’s control centre in Darmstadt, Germany at 11:19 GMT (13:19 CEST) with the loss of Rosetta’s signal upon impact.

Rosetta carried out its final manoeuvre last night at 20:50 GMT (22:50 CEST), setting it on a collision course with the comet from an altitude of about 19 km. Rosetta had targeted a region on the small lobe of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, close to a region of active pits in the Ma’at region. . . .

Seamus Haney was a very fine poet. And he was a philosopher king. Clearly he was right -- a time comes, when it is time to move on, in silence. Yet as Philae and Rosetta show, that need not be a melancholy moment. Onward, grinning.

नमस्ते

After This Long-Commanded Journey... There Will Be "No Next Time 'Round": Goodnight, To Rosetta

We will dearly miss this pairing, in truth. They were an enigmatic, captivating way to engage kids in space science, all over the globe. Yet, in silence, too -- there is some heady solace -- as some freeze, nearby -- and some others burn. . . at a distance, indeed. As for our headline, it was coined by the fine black Irishman Seamus Haney: after the commanded journey, there may well be no next time 'round. . . and so, we will reiterate a bit of what we wrote, about 20 days ago on the topic:

By all accounts, ESA (the European Space Agency) ran an excellent science mission with Rosetta -- and little Philae. We've covered it from time to time.

But as is true with all good things, they do come to an end. On September 30, that time comes -- for this pair.

As the unwasted grace of these waning elliptical orbits draws to a close, we will see Rosetta join Philae on the comet's surface, albeit on the other side of the comet -- and then fall silent. So it is with many pairs, initially found, then lost -- separated only to be reunited, and then. . . silently slipping into eternity. Yes, that's the sort of poetry space offers us. Here's a bit, from ESA:

. . . .The final flyover was completed on 24 September. Now, a short series of manoeuvres are underway, to line Rosetta up with the target impact site, over the three days as it transfers from flying elliptical orbits around the comet onto a trajectory that will eventually take it to the comet’s surface on 30 September. . . .

Now you'll be able to follow Rosetta until touchdown on the comet surface, right here. Be excellent to one another -- there'll be no next time 'round -- not for this little pair.

नमस्ते