Rosetta or how to put an end to a fairy tale space – Journal Page Seven

AFP / Paris

once Upon a time, two intrepid explorers of space, Rosetta, and its robot, Philae, arrived from the Earth to observe a comet very far away. So begins the fairy tale of the probe european space and its scanning module, two complex devices with their corresponding charming versions of cartoon and their fans, today the bereaved on the eve of the two adventurers cut their ties to the Land.

“I Think that will be poured out many tears," said the chief scientist of the European Space Agency (ESA), Mark McCaughrean, prior to the date of rupture was fixed for the 30th of September.

After two years in orbit around the comet 67P/Churiumov-Gerasimenko (known as “Churi"), who accompany him on his journey around the Sun hundreds of millions of kilometres from home, Rosetta will end his scientific mission marking a milestone in the history of the conquest of space, when resting on the surface of ice and dust of the celestial body. There you’ll meet the robot of exploration Philae, and together you shall be for eternity on the surface of the comet.

Rosetta and Philae became unusual famous space, each with its own Twitter account. Made to sell t-shirts, hats and toys. Animated Videos are presented to the two adventurers, with human aspect: eyes that see, eyebrows that express wonder and a mouth that smiles. And in the case of Philae, until legs. Now, the same who created these cute characters are confronted with a difficult task. “We have to make people understand in a clear way that actually finished," said Mark McCaughrean, in charge of public relations of the mission.

The fairy tale began in January of 2014, when Rosetta “woke up" after hibernating for almost three years to save energy in your journey of 10 years from the Earth. A month before, THAT had released a first video, titled once Upon a time.

The real drama began in November 2014 when Rosetta sent Philae to land on the comet. The cartoon shows Philae wearing a pair of boots and a helmet of work, preparing a sandwich, the compass and backpack, before he took leave of Rosetta and out in the space. Philae bounced twice in the comet’s surface before falling in a crack in the dimly lit.

Before the drop, was able to perform 60 hours of experiments and observations. In the animation of the ESA, the robot falls asleep and covered with a blanket in the cold, dark surface of the comet. The big question back then was whether Philae would be able to return to wake up when the comet gets closer to the Sun. He did, and on several occasions. With Rosetta, in contrast, the mission will cease immediately after the probe touches the surface.

The communications campaign was conceived, explains the executive director of the ESA, Jan Woerner, to be accountable to european opinion “about where their tax dollars go". “It is an obligation to carry out this role to the european public and try to inspire the new generations," adds Fabio Favata, of the inspection department of robotics of the space agency.

to some extent, the presentation anthropomorphic was an obvious choice. However, the success surprised many. Philae has about 450 thousand followers on Twitter. The succinct message that announced his brief awakening of June 2015, “Hello Earth! Do you hear Me?", is retuiteó 30,000 times. “The emotion that we’re all going to feel the next week, up in the THAT will take the form of a human feeling", says McCaughrean.