The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission will explore the origins of the Solar System by studying Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, one of its oldest and most primordial bodies. The mission consists of an orbiter and the Philae lander. The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) has played a significant role in the development of Philae and operates the Lander Control Centre in Cologne. DLR is preparing for and will manage the difficult, daring and, never before attempted. landing on the comet nucleus.
Following the successful awakening from hibernation of the Rosetta spacecraft, monitored by the European Space Operations Centre on 20 January 2014, engineers at DLR will re-activate the Philae lander on 28 March 2014. In November 2014, Philae – then at a distance of about 800 million kilometres from Earth – will descend to the comet's surface and use its 10 instruments to perform measurements and investigations.
The commissioning of Philae can be followed via a live stream on Friday, 28 March 2014 between 14:00 and 16:00 CET. However, bloggers and social media users will have the opportunity to follow the event live on location at the DLR site in Cologne.
The selected participants will receive a media accreditation and must meet the following requirements: be an active blogger and / or active user of social media platforms and use their blogs / channels to disseminate information about space, aeronautics, or science and technology in general. They must also follow DLR on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, Flickr or other relevant channels.
To apply for accreditation, click on the link below and specify your full name, the address of your blog and other social media platforms (Twitter, etc.) as well as your e-mail address. Places are limited, so applications will be treated on a 'first come, first served' basis. Questions may also be sent using the contact form.