Rosetta had spent over two years at Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko
but her time there was already coming to an end
she had made millions of measurements
and by now, knew the comet inside out.
She had taken photos from all angles.
Collected dust grains and sampled the gases in the comet's atmosphere.
Especially water vapor which was not quite the same as water on Earth.
She had measured the gravity of the comet
the magnetic field in its surroundings
and how the comet interacts with the solar wind.
During the two years, Rosetta had monitored how the comet changed
as they moved closer to the Sun and then away again.
With all this information scientists back home had
learned many things about how comets formed and evolved.
They also established that comets were made of the dusty and icy material
left over after the planets were formed.
And so they contain some of the oldest and best preserved material
from the birth of our Solar System.
Rosetta had made even more remarkable discoveries.
She found ingredients that were crucial for the origin of life on Earth.
Perhaps comets had helped seed the Earth
with these important ingredients when our planet was still very young.
Scientists would definitely be busy analysing Rosetta's findings for decades.
Her mission had been a huge success.
After a long search she'd even managed to find
the strange place where Philae had ended up,
fast asleep in a dark corner of the comet.
But now once again far from the Sun
Rosetta was not generating as much power,
and soon would not have enough to carry out her investigations.
She could go back to sleep right away
But instead decided to undertake one last ambitious challenge.
She was going to follow in Philae's footsteps
and land on the comet.
Rosetta was tired after twelve and a half years traveling through space
but she was very excited about her last tasks.
She would finally see up close some of the amazing sights
she had been observing from a distance for the past two years.
And she'd get to sample the comets gases
closer than she had ever dared to go before
it would not be easy but the experts back home
had everything figured out and the date was set.
Rosetta would be targeting a really interesting place on the head of the comet.
She wasn't going to be able to talk to Earth ever again once she was on the comet's surface.
After all she was never designed to land
So she would have to send back her last images and data as quickly as possible
before saying her final goodbyes.
Even though her incredible journey was nearly complete
she knew that just like the other comet explorers that had gone before her
the legacy of her amazing mission would live on forever.
She felt lucky to have had so many friends
and hoped they would still think about her and Philae from time to time.
Finally after 786 days at the comet, the last day for extraordinary adventure had arrived...