Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles Over 10 years had passed since Rosetta and Philae launched on their exciting mission to comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko. After three months investigating the comet from orbit it was time to send Philae to its surface. A long night of final preparations lay ahead of them. Finally the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived. As the world held its breath, Rosetta moved into the exact position needed to make sure Philae would reach the landing site that scientists on Earth had picked earlier in the mission. Philae and Rosetta were sad to be going their separate ways. But excited at the same time. Because this is what they had been waiting to do. Philae was away. It would take seven hours to reach the surface. But Philae wanted to get started on his measurements right away. He could soon see the surface in incredible detail And the moment he had been dreaming of had finally arrived. He had reached the surface of the comet. But all was not right. His harpoons did not fire. Philae realised he couldn't relax yet. He was rising from the surface again. Philae was scared he might drift off the comet completely. This was not in the plan. But eventually he came back down again. However, as he looked around, he realised he had landed in a completely unexpected location. Philae immediately set to work on studying his new home. It took him just over two days to conduct all the experiments he had brought with him. After all his hard work, Philae began to feel tired. So he made sure to send all the data he had collected back to Rosetta. As the Sun set over Philae's new home he fell into a deep sleep, safe in the knowledge that he did his main job well and that his family of comet chasing heroes would be proud of his achievement. Who knows perhaps one day enough sunlight would fall on his new landing site and wake him up so that he could carry on investigating this incredible world. And so as the comet moved over closer to the Sun, Rosetta prepared for the next part her exciting adventure. To be continued
A2 comet rosetta surface investigating realised landing Once upon a time... #cometlanding 153 7 u10150072 posted on 2015/12/07 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary