How a cartoon series Helped the public care about Rosetta and Philae

Once upon a time... is a series of short cartoons1 that have been developed as part of the European Space Agency’s communication campaign to raise awareness about the Rosetta mission. The series features two anthropomorphic characters depicting the Rosetta orbiter and Philae lander, introducing the mission story, goals and milestones with a fairy- tale flair. This article explores the development of the cartoon series and the level of engagement it generated, as well as presenting various issues that were encountered using this approach. We also examine how different audiences responded to our decision to anthropomorphise the spacecraft.