Review of "To Catch A Comet: The Landmark Mission of the Rosetta Spacecraft," PBS DVD

 Review of

To Catch A Comet: The Landmark Mission of the Rosetta Spacecraft, PBS DVD

Five out of five stars

An incredible achievement

 The Rosetta spacecraft was a robot that was launched on an incredibly complex mission. Developed and launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) it was designed to rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, drop a probe to the surface, sample and study the composition of the comet and take pictures of the unusual object. In order to achieve the velocity necessary to rendezvous with the comet, four gravitational assist flybys were needed. Three of Earth and one of Mars. 

 The machine was also put into hibernation mode for 31 months as it slowly gained on the target. Despite some tense moments, the spacecraft self-awakened on schedule and achieved the rendezvous with the target. Some incredible pictures and an enormous amount of scientific data were gathered. 

 It is impossible to watch this video and not be in awe of the skills of the people that plan, develop, launch and control these probe craft. At such great distances from Earth, robots have to be almost completely autonomous and the experimental packages small and consume little power. To see visual descriptions of the path and the incredibly effective engineering solutions makes one think that there are few limits to what space exploration can achieve. This video should be required viewing in science classes to demonstrate what the proper technological application of scientific principles can achieve.