A Charming Animation by ESA Showing Rosetta and Philae Spacecraft Preparing to Land on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko

A charming animation by the European Space Agency (ESA) shows the Rosetta and Philae spacecraft preparing to land on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta was launched in 2004 and spent a decade travelling to its destination in orbit around the comet. ESA remotely woke up Rosetta in January 2014 as it approached the comet to begin gathering data and preparing to send Philae to land on the surface.

Since waking Rosetta, ESA has released a series of similar and surprisingly moving animations detailing Rosetta and Philae’s journey. One earlier video focused on the process of waking up the spacecraft, and another tells the history of comet exploration in the form of a bedtime story.