Jean-Pierre Bibring & Hanns Zischler
The Comet, The Voyage of Rosetta
Published by Xavier Barral, 2019
Size: 25 x 27 cm
216 Pages - 150 Photos
Hardcover
Languages: French
A photographic dream, this book transports us into space aboard the Rosetta probe and immerses us in the incredible story of this mission led by the European Space Agency. The reader follows the orbital journey of the Rosetta probe over ten years, through 150 photographs taken along its path: departure from Earth, crossing the clouds then skirting the Moon until approaching Mars, asteroids, to finally lose itself in the starry void of the cosmos and approaching the comet Chury in 2014. Thanks to powerful sensors, these dazzling photographs reveal to us even the darkest shadows, the various reliefs of this comet composed of dust and ice, barely lit by the sun's rays. The images collected are part of the treasure of these discoverers. Reading them invites us to reconsider our terrestrial references. On 67P, what seems solid can turn out to be extremely fragile. (Xavier Barral)
An initial text by Jean-Pierre Bibring, a French astrophysicist at the Institute of Space Astrophysics, responsible for the scientific operations of the Rosetta lander, examines the objectives of this mission and the accomplishment of such a technological and human feat. Following this interstellar journey, an essay by Hanns Zichler, author and director, evokes the various historical and literary symbols echoed by this mission.