[ Update, 29/10/2014, 20:35 GMT: The embedded YouTube videos didn’t load properly due to using short-links instead of full-links. This has been fixed. ]
It’s been over a full decade since the European Space Agency space probe Rosetta was launched to rendezvous with a (relatively) nearby comet, officially referred to as 67P / Churyumov–Gerasimenko and sometimes shortened to just 67P / C-G. The mission of this little probe is to perform a detailed study of 67P / C-G with both an orbiter and a lander.
Rosetta caught up with the comet back in August, and it entered orbit in early-September. It’s now scheduled to land on 67P / C-G , on Wednesday, November 12th, with its lander, “Philae”. Despite the probes momentous hurdle across space for almost 11 years to be the first human-made thing to land on a comet, coverage of Rosetta has been few and far between.
To change this, a short, compelling film has been produced in tribute to the Rosetta mission, which stars none other than Game of Thrones’ Aiden Gillen, who plays Lord Petyr Baelish (otherwise known as “Littlefinger”). In the short-film, Gillen, who plays the role of a post-human Master, tells the story of the Rosetta mission to his pupil, an Apprentice (played by Aisling Franciosi), about the importance of ambition, implying that humanity has achieved greater feats since Rosetta.
Directed by Tomek Baginski, the short was shot on locactin in Iceland. Aptly, the short-film itself is title “Ambition“, and it images a future where humans have the ability to create destroy objects through controlling nanomachine-like constructs. However, the Game of Thrones actor’s performance in the short makes the notion appear similar to The Force in Star Wars.
Both the short-film itself and its making-of are now available to watch, and they have both been embedded below. Poignantly, Lukasz Sobisz, Ambitions‘ simulation technical director, added during the making-of that it’s a shame that it takes an interesting short-film and cast to get people interested in the Rosetta mission.
“The actual campaign idea is certainly well targeted,” he said. “But, shooting myself in the foot a bit, I’m very surprised you need something this at all now. Mankind sends a probe into space to catch a comet and land on it. And we need a great director, film and actors to convince people this is interesting.“
We’ll bring you more news on this should further information reach our ears. You can also listen to the short-film’s official score here.
