To catch a comet

Gr 5-8-Hyperrealistic CGI sequences, with pounding music in the background (plus the occasional "WHOOSH!"), crank up the melodrama in this documentary about an interplanetary encounter between a comet and Rosetta, a probe constructed and launched by the European Space Agency. Along with visualizations of the tumbling comet and the probe in transit through space, live-action segments of scientists and technicians at work on Earth capture many of the 10-year mission's moments of suspense and triumph. Moreover, talking-head experts aided, at times, by virtual reality overlays explain the project's significance with clarity and infectious enthusiasm. Unfortunately, the documentary was completed before the most dramatic turn of all-the lander Philae's rough touchdown on the comet's surface last November and the devastating realization that the solar-powered craft had landed in a shadowed area. Viewers prepped and wound up for a big finish are likely to find the film's sudden cutoff anticlimactic. VERDICT This has its merits as a picture of science in action and also as a reminder that NASA isn't the only space agency in town.-John Peters, Literacy Consultant, New York City (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.