The film was created by Platige Image under the supervision of Jakub Knapik. He used the visual effects compositing software NUKE to create a 3D projection of the comet from the seven images, infilling any data drop-outs and masking out pieces of Philae sneaking into frame. He then loaded in the probe’s flight path data to create a realtime landing sequence from the Philae’s perspective. The soundtrack is the instrumental version of “Saline” by Jem Godfrey of Frost*. The video uses the same raw data as the seven ROLIS images released over the summer, but this is far more beautiful and viscerally moving.

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The view from Philae’s final landing spot, Abydos, with one of the probe’s three legs poking into the foreground. Image credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA

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Knapik previously worked on ESA’s scifi short “Ambition.” The Philae probe briefly woke up before power issues and unfriendly geometry ended communication. It will try to get back in touch later this fall. The Rosetta spacecraft is still in orbit, and recently uncovered evidence of a water cycle on the comet.

[ESA]

Image credits: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS/DLR/Stefano Mottola/Jakub Knapik/Platige Image/Sarah Poletti/Marc Thiebaut


Contact the author at mika.mckinnon@io9.com or follow her at @MikaMcKinnon.