BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Rosetta's Waltz

What an amazing achievement! Yesterday (Nov 12th) the European Space Agency put a lander on a comet. And there is more to come as Rosetta follows the comet in its approach to the inner Solar System. The mission was conceived some thirty years ago - originally, it wasn't so audacious as to include a lander. It's been a tremendous technical accomplishment and a tribute to the many countries that cooperated to make it happen.

The composer Vangelis - you must have heard his award-winning music for the film Chariots of Fire - was inspired by Rosetta to write three pieces of music. Here's the first part - "Arrival"

I remember Vangelis and Chariots of Fire.

That is quite an achievement for sure to put a lander on a comet. Wow! This should be interesting.

Yes, Jana, it is quite an achievement. It's annoying that the word "awesome" has become trivially overused to the point of ridiculousness, because I think putting a space probe onto a comet in deep space is truly awesome. In fact, getting a probe orbiting a comet is awesome, even before Philae's journey.

All three of the Vangelis pieces inspired by the Rosetta mission are on my board "Music and Astronomy".

Thanks Mona. I'll check them out!

Philae has sent all of its data, and I'm sure it will keep the scientists busy for some time. But now the lander has gone to sleep. The battery has been drained and there isn't enough sunlight to recharge it - Rosetta and Philae are still nearly half a billion miles from the Sun. However Philae does have solar panels, so it's conceivable that there could be a revival as they move closer to the Sun.

ESA has an interactive tool Where is Rosetta? that lets you see where Rosetta is now and at any time during her ten-year journey from Earth. If the music gets annoying, you can turn it off and play Rosetta's Waltz instead!