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Rosetta: A Sky at Night Special

An in-depth look at one of the most extraordinary space adventures in a generation - the attempt to land the ESA's Rosetta spacecraft on the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet.

It is one of the most extraordinary space adventures in a generation - to land a spacecraft on a comet.

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft has been hurtling through space for over 10 years, tracking down a comet called 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Now it is about to do something that has never been attempted before and land a spacecraft on the comet's surface.

This special episode of The Sky at Night puts the viewer right at the heart of the action, witnessing events as they happened from inside mission control. It reveals the latest images, explores the first groundbreaking science coming back from the comet and asks the astonishing questions that make this mission so captivating. Could Earth's water have come from comets? How do comets survive for so long? Could they have triggered the start of life on Earth?

The journey has been fraught with risk and at every stage the comet seems to surprise, but if the mission succeeds it will be a momentous day in the history of space exploration.

1 hour

Last on

Sun 16 Nov 2014 21:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Chris Lintott
Presenter Maggie Aderin-Pocock
Series Producer Rob Liddell
Executive Producer Jonathan Renouf

Broadcast