Mission impossible

Source | ESA / YouTube | 06 April 2024 1 minute
This is indeed a creative, entertaining and informative cartoon about the amazing adventures of Rosetta and Philae who decided to take on an exciting adventure and visit a comet. After that the two cartoon heroes embark on an incredible ten-year journey through the solar system flying around planets and past asteroids along the way. However, Rosetta and Philae are no made-up characters. In November 1993, the International Rosetta Mission was approved as a Cornerstone Mission in ESA’s Horizons 2000 Science Program. Since then, scientists and engineers from all over Europe and the United States have been combining their talents to build an orbiter and a lander for this unique expedition to unravel the secrets of a mysterious mini ice world – a comet. Philae, on the other hand, is the first probe that performed a soft landing on the comet named 67P/Tschurjumow-Gerassimenko. The box-shaped lander is carried on the side of the orbiter until it arrives at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Once the orbiter is aligned correctly, the lander is commanded to self-eject from the main spacecraft and unfold its three legs, ready for a gentle touchdown at the end of the ballistic descent. For more please check out www.esa.int