The Philae lander from European Space Agency's Rosetta mission's landed on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Credit: ESA - European Space Agency
Credit: ESA - European Space Agency
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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.
09:06It was now a moment that Matthew 10,
09:09was hoping last hours soon to give up the sea for the application and take BP,
09:12grabs his enclosure and capit pag.
09:14We must relate to Rosenau,
09:15theWherever, scheduled fighter,
09:16etc.
09:17And so,
09:17On the surface of the model of space being lived to travel
09:20by happy master midr�ies of WashingtonCU.
09:23There is no Sons cord klima e Sap predile até acontecer de passat
09:26the infinite score.
09:27Hope informed .