The European Space Agency bid a poignant farewell Friday to intrepid space explorers Philae and Rosetta, brought to "life" as loveable cartoon characters that it has had to abandon on a cold, dark comet surface.

As the real steel and bolts Rosetta spacecraft made a planned crash-landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, its fairytale counterpart is depicted going through a range of emotions as she approaches her end.

Cartoon Rosetta grins widely as she beams photos and data home to Earth, then breaks out in a gasp of pleasant surprise as she spots robot lander Philae, her "little brother", asleep between large boulders on the comet surface.

A resigned smile follows as Rosetta sends a final text message to Earth: "Mission complete!" before waving in our direction with a spindly arm.

A green-and-blue cartoon Earth replies by holding aloft a large banner proclaiming: "Goodbye Rosetta" as the craft, its solar panels stretched out wing-like from either side, drifts slowly out of view.

Source : AFP