+
upworthy
Heroes

They Sent A Camera Millions Of Miles Into Space. It Just Took These 7 Photos.

See mankind's first images from the surface of a comet.

On November 12, 2014, for the first time in history, we landed on a comet. It took a long time – about 10 years – to get there.

The Approach

Just a few days before the landing, we got our first up-close glimpses of the alien rock, called 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, from the European Space Agency's probe, Rosetta. Here's what it looks like from about six miles away:


Look how jagged the cliff is compared to the smooth, dusty surface below. It almost looks like a set from Star Trek in this photo:

Except that it's just a tiny big bigger than any set we've ever built. It's hard to get a sense of how big everything in these pictures is because, well, the comet is floating in empty space and there's nothing to compare it to. It turns out 67P isn't just any comet. It's a massive (and, oddly, duck-shaped) comet. How massive? Here's what it would look like over London:

Yikes! Let's just say it's a good thing it's floating over 300 million miles away.

But a part of us isn't just floating around the comet — it's on it. How'd that happen?

Off We Go

Philae, the lander attached to Rosetta, said goodbye and set off toward the comet to attempt something that had never been done before: land on it. We had no idea whether it would work.

That's Philae leaving Rosetta. The three legs sticking out of it are its landing gear.

Here's a shot from Philae, just under two miles from the surface:

Here's what it looked like just 100 feet from touching down. That boulder in the top-right looks small, but it's actually about 16 feet across, roughly the size of two pickup trucks.

Meanwhile, Back At Home...

Philae drifted closer to the comet, and then ... well, it's funny. I'm telling this story in real-time. But because the comet is 300 million miles away, it actually takes about 30 minutes for signals from it to travel through space and back to Earth. So while this is going on out beyond Mars, the folks back on Earth were just waiting — and rather nervously, judging by this photo from the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany:

Translation: "Live from the control room: They're also riveted to their screens, waiting for news."

Out in space, Philae moved out of sight of Rosetta as it neared the end of the pair's 10-year odyssey.

Touchdown!

Minutes passed. Finally, the signal arrived! Confirmed: Philae had landed on the comet. The celebrations poured in from across this planet, and raucous applause filled ESOC.

The landing wasn't seamless. One of Philae's thrusters failed, which caused it to bounce when it hit the comet. And the harpoons that were supposed to keep it latched tightly to 67P failed to deploy, causing it to shift slightly.

But it did land, and in one piece. Data started to drift in, and then, after a few hours, this arrived: the first postcard from a comet, sent by Philae's CIVA camera back to all of its fans here on Earth.

Later, we got an entire panorama. People of Earth, welcome to 67P, your first comet:

Unfortunately, we may have to wait a while for more photos. It looks like Philae's final resting place is probably on its side, near a crater, where it receives only 1.5 hours of sunlight per day to charge its batteries. That means the ESA will have to prioritize the sensors that the lander uses, including cameras, to make sure we get as much science out of the project as possible.

A Moment To Remember

As you savor these images, it's worth noting that this is not the beginning or the end. This was a mission a decade in the making. And whether or not Philae stays alive and runs experiments for the next few years, as planned, we've already learned an incredible amount about our solar system that will have an immeasurable impact on our future.

The cheers may have started when Philae made its relatively safe landing, but they should continue for years to come.

Community

How to end hunger, according to the people who face it daily

Here’s what people facing food insecurity want you to know about solving the hunger problem in America

True

Even though America is the world’s wealthiest nation, about 1 in 6 of our neighbors turned to food banks and community programs in order to feed themselves and their families last year. Think about it: More than 9 million children faced hunger in 2021 (1 in 8 children).

In order to solve a problem, we must first understand it. Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, released its second annual Elevating Voices: Insights Report and turned to the experts—people experiencing hunger—to find out how this issue can be solved once and for all.

Here are the four most important things people facing hunger want you to know.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pets

Family brings home the wrong dog from daycare until their cats saved the day

A quick trip to the vet confirmed the cats' and family's suspicions.

Family accidentally brings wrong dog home but their cats knew

It's not a secret that nearly all golden retrievers are identical. Honestly, magic has to be involved for owners to know which one belongs to them when more than one golden retriever is around. Seriously, how do they all seem have the same face? It's like someone fell asleep on the copy machine when they were being created.

Outside of collars, harnesses and bandanas, immediately identifying the dog that belongs to you has to be a secret skill because at first glance, their personalities are also super similar. That's why it's not surprising when one family dropped off their sweet golden pooch at daycare and to be groomed, they didn't notice the daycare sent out the wrong dog.

See, not even their human parents can tell them apart because when the swapped dog got home, nothing seemed odd to the owners at first. She was freshly groomed so any small differences were quickly brushed off. But this accidental doppelgänger wasn't fooling her feline siblings.

Keep ReadingShow less
via Pexels

A teacher lists his class rules.

The world would be a much better place if humans weren’t so … human. We all fall short of perfection. Common sense is, sadly, not too common. And there’s one guy out there who always manages to screw things up when things start getting good.

Call it Murphy’s law. Call it the great “reason we can’t have nice things.” Call it entropy. It feels like a whole lot of pain could be avoided if we all had just a little bit more sense.

But what if there was one rule that we all agreed to follow to make everyone’s life better? What would this magical rule be?

A Reddit user who goes by the name P4insplatter came to this realization and asked the AskReddit subforum, “What simple rule would fix the world if everyone actually followed it?” They received dozens of simple rules that if everyone got behind would make the world drastically better.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sandra Maria/Youtube, Official Lives & Music Videos/Youtube

You can't not sing this song.

The music of Queen has a profound visceral effect on everyone. Few pieces of art can cause complete strangers to put aside their differences and come together in song, but by golly, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is one of them. It would be cheesy if it weren’t so absolutely beautiful.

This pertains even to non-English-speaking countries, it appears. Recently, thousands of Harry Styles concertgoers in Warsaw, Poland, began cheering as those iconic beginning piano notes penetrated the air.
Keep ReadingShow less

Movie critic Roger Ebert speaking his mind at the Sundance Film Festival.

It’s been ten years since the world lost Roger Ebert to cancer, and his voice is sorely missed. Ebert had a pure love of cinema, and even though he was a film critic in a sweater with a Pulitzer Prize, he wrote and spoke in a way accessible to every man.

He didn’t care if a film was a Hollywood blockbuster or art-house fare; what mattered was whether it deserved his highly-coveted “thumbs up.”

Ebert was an extremely gifted communicator whose interests went far beyond film. In his later years, he often mused about music, politics, and American cultural events with the same eloquence, thoughtfulness and wit.

Keep ReadingShow less
@over40slbmom/TikTok

Feeling nostalgic yet?

It seems like so many iterations of unfettered joy from our childhood haven’t made it to the modern age, and playgrounds are no exception.

Gone are the days of metal slides that scorched the derriere in the summertime, seesaws that doubled as human catapults and the notorious merry-go-rounds that separated the weak from the strong. Good old fashioned character building—safety be damned!

As it turns out, a few of these old relics are still standing. And footage of kids playing at one of these bygone parks is filling adults—particularly Gen Xers—with sweet nostalgia.
Keep ReadingShow less

A couple shares why they decided to leave the United States.

Although it is difficult to tell if there is a trend of Americans moving out of the country, rough estimates show that around 8 million currently live in other countries—double the 4.1 million living abroad in 1999.

The most popular countries for Americans to move to are Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom, in that order.

A big reason why some are leaving the U.S. is that an increasing number of employers allow people to work abroad. Others are choosing to leave because of cost of living increases and “golden visa” programs. Golden visas offer the chance to get a foreign residency permit by purchasing a house or making a significant investment or donation.

Keep ReadingShow less