Mark McCaughreanMar 27, 2025

Wow – didn’t think I’d be in tears today, but this message sent home from Gaia as it was shut down forever today hits hard 😭

What you’re seeing is a map of the 106 CCD detectors that Gaia used to measure the positions of billions of stars in the Milky Way for the past 11 years 🛰️✨

They were turned off in a special sequence … 😕

#SpaceScience #Astronomy #Science

Show threadJoan Combs DursoMar 27, 2025
@markmccaughrean it’s hard not to anthropomorphize these scientific spacecraft, embodying our hopes for the future and scientific dreams of discovery, not unlike our human progeny. This had me sobbing at my desk. Thanks for sharing.
Show threadMark McCaughrean

@econoprof I’m sorry / glad to hear that 🙂 Many of the Gaia team spoke about their spacecraft this way today.

It may seem a little cheesy & exploitative even sometimes, but I fully agree with you on the power of anthropomorphisation. Indeed, my amazing science outreach team at ESA worked with some brilliant artists to come up with perhaps one of the most effective & emotional examples for the mission of Rosetta & Philae a decade ago. It still tugs at the heartstrings:

https://youtu.be/HD2zrF3I_II?feature=shared

The amazing adventures of Rosetta and Philae

YouTube
Mar 27, 2025 at 7:26pmIceCubesApp
Show threadMark McCaughreanMar 27, 2025
@econoprof That film is a combination of all the individual movies made during their mission & the same drawings were used alongside they spacecraft when spoke on social media in the first person, back in the day when Twitter was a better place.
Show threadJoan Combs DursoMar 28, 2025
@markmccaughrean okay, sniffles there at the intro, indeed! That I will watch in full on the big screen this weekend then share with all the little cousins. Thanks for this.
It’s a shame we are inundated by deciders who lost or never had that sense of wonder.