Rosetta

Scale : 1:4

Size : 9.5' x 1.5'

Location : Leiden, Netherlands

Photo by : Gunnar Rauda

These two scale engineering models were built for Airbus to be displayed in their corporate museum. The installation has the Rosetta spacecraft, the very first effort to rendezvous with a comet, suspended from the ceiling above, with its lander unit, Philae approaching an artistic representation of the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko’s surface.

Both of these mechanical models were constructed mainly of laser-cut acrylic. The real-life lander had an ill-fated landing on the actual comet when its harpoon propellant failed to anchor it to the surface, resulting in a poor landing and a disappointing data return for a still ultimately successful comet encounter.