Some space missions go out with a bang, others with a victorious return to Earth, but Rosetta’s final moment was marked simply by radio silence.
Shortly after noon (BST) on Friday, the European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft finally collided with the duck-shaped comet that it has been pursuing through space for twelve-and-a-half years, switched off its transmitters and hung up the phone to its controllers on Earth.
“This is the culmination of tremendous scientific and technical success for this mission,” said Patrick Martin, Rosetta’s mission manager, after confirming touchdown. “It was historic, it was pioneering and it is revolutionising how we see comets. Farewell Rosetta, you’ve done the job: that was space science at its best.”
As the $1bn craft met the surface, indicated by a green wiggle flatlining on a computer screen at mission headquarters, scientists were left to wonder how the final moments played out.
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