This picture released by the European Space Agency was taken by Rosetta’s Philae lander during its descent onto comet 67P Wednesday. The lander’s 317 million-mile journey took more than 10 years. (European Space Agency)
Re: “Cosmic first: European spacecraft lands on comet,” Nov. 13 news story.
Letap take just one day to stop our bickering about wars, political differences, climate change, the widening gap between rich and poor, and all of our other human failings. Letap take just one day to understand and marvel at the incredible accomplishment of the Rosetta mission and what it says about the potential of the human race.
Just a few hundred years ago our ancestors saw comets as supernatural omens from the gods, unexplainable mysteries of the universe. The idea that we might be able to land a spacecraft on a comet was only conceived in 1993 when many of the technological necessities for such a mission did not exist. In 10 short years we developed the science and engineering to successfully launch and 10 more years to navigate a gentle landing on a comet moving thousands of miles per hour in the deepest depths of space.
With international cooperation of the world’s scientists under the leadership of the European Space Agency, we have achieved the “impossible.” Imagine what mankind could accomplish in solving our problems of hunger, disease and the environment if we focused the same international cooperation, intelligence and resources on our “earthbound” challenges.
Richard Taylor, Castle Pines
This letter was published in the Nov. 16 edition.
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