By Aidan Fox ’15, News Editor

On March 2, 2004, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched Rosetta, a 9-foot long space probe via rocket. It flew around the sun four times, using gravity assists of Earth and Mars. A gravity assist is when an object (in this case, Rosetta) swings around a large object (a planet) and uses the planet’s gravity to slingshot it forward or change its course, saving valuable fuel. After four elliptical orbits around the sun and over ten and a half years, Rosetta entered the comet’s orbit in September. On November 12, 2014, the lander named Philae detached from the main probe as Rosetta continued to orbit the comet from 18 miles away, using its twelve instruments to collect data and transmit it millions of miles to the base in Germany. Philae impacted the comet, but its harpoons did not deploy and its thruster did not fire. As a result, Philae bounced. Even though it was going a mere 0.85 mph when it hit the comet, the lack of gravity caused it to bounce a kilometer up. It bounced again and settled into a shady spot beneath a boulder. Unfortunately, this spelled disaster for Philae, which, as a result of sun deprivation, lost all power and contact with Earth on November 15. It is possible that it could be reawakened next summer.

Despite the disappointment of losing contact several days after the landing, the mission is still considered a success by the ESA and the scientific community. Physics teacher Mr. Bitler said, “The Rosetta mission was a triumph of space exploration and navigation. To land a spacecraft on a rapidly moving and tiny comet moving very fast through the solar system requires a great deal of kinematics expertise and the use of technology to enable that landing.” He also points out, “In the short time the lander was active on the comet, a fair amount of analysis of the comet was made. This is extremely interesting to scientists, both in terms of understanding the history of the solar system, but also in possible future terms of mining asteroids and comets.” Physics teacher Mr. Kesler adds that he is most excited for the potential discovery of organic material. From this, he says, they could “determine that a comet impact could have kick started life on Earth’s own evolution when Earth was younger.” He theorizes, “Perhaps only planets that have been lucky enough to get hit by a comet and lucky enough to be in [orbit] around a suitable star are the planets where organic life develops.”

On a related note, the Project Scientist of the mission, the British Dr. Matt Taylor, has been criticized for wearing a semi-pornographic shirt depicting scantily-clad female sci-fi characters during the live stream of the landing. “He can wear whatever he wants,” said Anna Hope Emerson ’16, “but the problem is that he specifically chose to and wanted to wear a demeaning shirt specifically targeted towards women which alienates and disrespects women in the STEM field.” Jordan Zucker ’16 had an opposing opinion. “If you have a problem with the shirt, you’re probably not meant for the rigors of being in the STEM field. Why is it okay for women to boldly flaunt their sexuality by posing nude in magazines but a guy wearing a semi-revealing cartoon shirt gets trashed? By promoting stories like Kim Kardashian, women end up promoting the objectification that they seek to destroy.” Others were simply disappointed that it detracted from the mission itself. “The focus in this situation is misplaced,” said Lila Rimalovski ’15. “No, Matt Taylor should not have worn that shirt. It was probably the worst possible opportunity to display such a garment. Yet, so much of the media is centered on his attire instead of his accomplishments. Taylor helped us take a huge leap in research and I don’t think that should be overlooked because of a poor PR decision. I don’t support his choice of clothing, but at the same time, I think he deserves more praise than criticism.” Mr. Kesler agrees. “Dr. Taylor shouldn’t have been wearing the shirt. He knew that it would attract attention. He could have worn it every day except announcement-day.”

Despite the controversial distraction and temporary loss of Philae, this mission has created great pride in our scientific achievement and optimism for our future. “The human race is becoming increasingly adept at exploring the solar system in increasingly sophisticated ways,” said Mr. Bitler. “It will not be long before we have humans on Mars and also, your generation is likely to become the first to go interstellar.”