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Kingston Lacy
waits for message from space By Liz Turner
At around 5pm on Wednesday 12 November, scientists at the European Space Agency mission control will be holding their breath as they wait to hear if a robotic lander has touched down safely on a comet over 500 million kilometres from earth. The Rosetta spacecraft lifted off on 2 March 2004 on a 10 year mission to open up a new chapter in solar system exploration. And as it launches its lander, Dorset can pride itself in the knowledge that it has close links to the mission, which could change everything we know about the origins of life on earth. The lander, containing all the specialised instruments, has been named after the Philae obelisk at Kingston Lacy near Wimborne. It’s 175 years since William Bankes installed the Egyptian obelisk on the lawn of his home. Discovered on the Isle of Philae in 1815,
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Gerasimenko, has significant UK involvement from industry and science. On board the Philae lander is the UK led Ptolemy instrument, designed and built by researchers at the Open University, which will perform on the spot analysis of the composition of the ices and organic material within the comet. While the UK scientists are gearing up for the lander’s touchdown, a team from the University of Oxford are studying the findings of Reflectance
the obelisk has inscriptions in hieroglyphics and Greek which were instrumental in deciphering the Rosetta Stone and unlocking the secrets of ancient Egypt. Just as the Rosetta stone and Philae obelisk became the key to interpreting hieroglyphs and understanding ancient Egyptian civilisation, their space faring namesakes – the Rosetta probe and its Philae lander – are set to be the key to furthering man’s understanding of the formation of the solar system and the origins of life. With funding from the UK Space Agency and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the mission to land on A selfie taken by Rosetta comet 67/P showing the comet ChuryumovCredit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA
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Transformation Imaging, 3D and multispectral imaging scans of the Philae obelisk. These pioneering new technologies have produced the most complete visualisation of a monument of this kind ever made and are helping the archaeologists to read the eroded Greek section of the text more clearly than ever before.
In October, experts from the UK Space and European Space Agencies, the Open University and Oxford University gathered at the Philae obelisk Kingston Lacy to present their findings and celebrate the opening of new chapters into the study of ancient history and space exploration. An exhibition about the comet chasing mission, funded by the STFC, has also opened at Kingston Lacy, which is owned by the National Trust.
Experts at the obelisk with models of the lander and comet