With only a matter of days standing between now and the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta Mission landing on its host Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, researchers and the ESA are looking towards what the future of the mission may mean for Earth. As the first successful orbit around a comet, speeding through our solar system on its mission around the sun, the ESA is searching for answers not only on the origin of our Earth, but also of our solar system-something they say they will find in a new sci-fi film released this morning, Oct. 24.
Aptly entitled Ambition, the film first screened during the British Film Institute's celebration of "Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder", stars Aisling Francioi and Aiden Gillen of HBO's Game of Thrones, and was developed as a collaborative effort between the ESA and Platige Image. Set far in the future, the film shows a master of nanotechnology teaching the process of terraforming a planet, but it's a tale of folklore that builds interest in this sci-fi flick.
In a lesson begun with the famous words "Once upon a time..." Gillen explains the origins of water and life on Earth, a tale he relates to the ESA's current Rosetta Mission in deep space. It's a film based primarily in fantasy, but one illuminated by research developing today.
Ambition, which was filmed on location in Iceland giving the appearance of a desolate far-off future, was created by the ESA in hopes of bringing to light in the public sphere the next branch of Rosetta's mission which will begin early next month. Soon, the satellite will pull away from the comet before diving for an even closer view, and on November 12 the ESA has planned the launch of Rosetta's Philae Lander which is expected to touch down on the comet and harpoon itself in place. Giving astronomers a first-hand view of the ride aboard a speeding comet, never seen before.
And while many still question whether or not Rosetta will be successful in its mission, astronomers with the ESA evaluating preliminary data are hopeful the Philae Lander will not only collect chemical composition data and up-close photos, but also find the presence of organic chemicals based on carbon, essential for the development of early life.
The Ambition film is one not only of a tale of the Rosetta mission, but one on our origins as well. And whether you're a sci-fi fanatic, or simply an interested humble astronomer, the short clip will undoubtedly give you a new view of our solar system, and the research out there in space today.
