Rosetta landed on comet67p last week, the first time any man-made object landed on cosmic ice. It made me aware that there is a such a thing as a Jupiter family of comets, which were originally from the Kuiper belt. But collisions with other bodies knocked it out of the region. Eventually, Jupiter, that beast of a planet, which does indeed have its own little world around it, captured the comet and set it in a new orbit.

Rosetta’s landing even caught the attention of Canadian Rick Mercer, who made it the topic of his weekly rant. It was comforting to see this comic genius going to bat for science.

It was not the first time he’s acted in that manner. When the Harper government cut funding to the Experimental Lakes Area, he had this to say: