Thought I'd start some excitement build-up for the second encounter with comet Tempel 1, this time by Stardust-NExT ….
NASA plans Valentine's date with a comet
Quote:
The Stardust-NExT spacecraft will be rapidly snapping pictures of the Tempel 1 comet as they pass at a mere distance of 200 kilometers (about 124 miles).
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Deep Impact pummeled the comet with a special impactor spacecraft and the material that came out was a surprise to scientists: a cloud of fine powdery material emerged, not the water, ice and dirt that was expected.
Deep Impact also found evidence of ice on the surface of the comet, not just inside it.
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Should be interesting to get a close-up view of the impactor site.
Yep .. its all happening on February 14, folks !!
(I can't wait … I had a lot of fun with the Hartley 2 encounter … )
Cheers