Monday, November 18, 2024

The ESA / Rosetta / Philae Comet Landing -- Ten Years On: A [Very Fond] Look Back.


We covered this closely, for a year -- almost exactly a decade ago, now. And what a time it was -- even though the lil' lander ended up laying in a shadow on its side.

It was then largely "missing" -- from mid November of that year, until early January, of the next-- when it was spotted again. Here's a reminder of what all went down -- for advancing celestial object science, and exploration:

. . .[In November 2014], after a ten-year journey through the Solar System and over 500 million kilometres from home, Rosetta’s lander Philae made space exploration history by touching down on a comet for the first time. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of this extraordinary feat, we celebrate by taking a look back over the mission's highlights.

Rosetta was an ESA mission with contributions from its Member States and NASA. It studied Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for over two years, including delivering lander Philae to the comet’s surface. Philae was provided by a consortium led by DLR, MPS, CNES and ASI. . . [with a video below narrated with a lilting Gaelic brogue, too!].




Now you know. what a time, indeed -- a bumpy ride, going into those weeks, here on Jasoom, as well -- as we swirled between craggy lawfirms' managing partners -- and, in truth, various people -- some still in the shadows, as well. What a time, indeed.

नमस्ते

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