ESA Makes Rosetta Space Probe Kid-Friendly With Cartoons

Not just for kids, mind you, are the collection of videos commissioned by the European Space Agency for the robotic space probe Rosetta. Named after the Rosetta Stone, translator of Egyptian scripts, Rosetta is placed in a number of cartoons that make learning fun. What could be better than that?

When I was a kid, space travel seemed only as important as getting from Tatooine to Aleraan with Obi-Wan in tow. The Magic School Bus helped me care a bit more, and Bill Nye the Science Guy was a big help.

Today we're having a peek at a series of cartoons we'd very much like to be the basis for a whole series. What a wonderful way to learn about a satellite!

These videos were first made for release in July of 2014. There it was that "after ten years and billions of kilometers traveling through space", Rosetta and her brother Philae were ready to see their goal: comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

For those of you interested in where Rosetta is today, have a peek at the ESA Rosetta locater on your desktop browser. Adjust your view to see where the probe is now, where it's headed, and where it's been!

At the time this article is published, Rosetta will have three more goals to achieve. The first will be a November 2014 landing of Philae on the surface of 67P/G-C – won't that be fun.

The second of the final three missions Rosetta has to accomplish: following their buddy 67P/G-C around our sun. In December of 2015, Rosetta's mission will be over.

Below you'll see several of Rosetta's finer moments – stay tuned as we check in with this spacecraft in November – what a long journey this has been!

Also thanks to AcerbicMaelin on Reddit for pointing these lovely videos out in the first place!