Philae's descent: riding with the lander

The descent of Philae towards Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on 12 November 2014, as if we are riding with the lander.

The animation begins with Philae being ejected by Rosetta and deploying its own three legs, and follows the lander’s descent until it reaches the target site on the comet about seven hours later. Meanwhile, the comet rotates underneath the lander with a period of 12.4 hours.

The animation stops about four and a half hours after separation, after two thirds of the lander’s descent. The total descent time will be about seven hours.

Philae was provided by a consortium led by DLR, MPS, CNES and ASI.

Credit: ESA/ATG medialab