Use the force Philae!
We’ve got everything crossed for the Rosetta mission’s robot lander Philae making history with the first ever successful touchdown on a comet.
Plucky robots are a beloved staple of sci-fi cinema, from Huey in Silent Running (1972) and R2-D2 in Star Wars (1977) to Johnny 5 and WALL-E.
Today, all eyes are on their real-life counterpart, Philae, which stands to make history at approximately 4pm GMT when it is hoped the European Space Agency’s (ESA) robotic lander will touch down on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Dispatched by the ESA’s Rosetta satellite at 8.35am GMT, Philae’s mission is to make the first ever soft landing on a comet.
Radio contact has already been made with the robot, meaning that pictures from the comet’s otherworldly surface of icy turrets should be possible if a landing is made.
First, however, Philae will have to rely on ice screws and harpoons to cling on to the comet and successfully dock within 67P’s very low gravity field.
We’re proud to have the ESA as a partner of our Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder season and, on 24 October, we premiered a new short film funded by them intended to complement public awareness around the Rosetta mission. Starring Aidan Gillen and Aisling Franciosi, Ambition is set in the far future and features cameo appearances from both the Rosetta satellite and its adventurous emissary Philae.
You can watch a live stream of coverage of the real-life mission as it unfolds over at the ESA website.
We await news from space with bated breath. Use the force Philae!
