Tag: Comet

  • Rosetta camera captures Philae’s descent to the comet

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    Image: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA. Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera witnessed Philae’s descent to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 12 November. This animated gif comprises images captured between 10:24 and 14:24 GMT (onboard spacecraft time). More images showing Philae closer to the surface are still to be downloaded. Separation occurred onboard the spacecraft at…

  • Comet’s brush with Mars more dramatic than expected

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    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS “SPACE PLACE” & USED WITH PERMISSION Artist’s concept of Comet Siding Spring approaching Mars, shown with NASA’s orbiters preparing to make science observations of this unique encounter. Credit: NASA/JPL Comet Siding Spring’s close flyby of Mars last month dumped several tons of primordial dust into the thin martian atmosphere, likely creating a…

  • Mars spacecraft safe after fortuitous comet encounter

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    The HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took these images of comet Siding Spring, the first resolved images of a long-period comet’s nucleus. HiRISE took the pictures nine minutes apart at a range of 138,000 kilometers (86,000 miles) from the comet, yielding a scale of about 138 meters (150 yards) per pixel. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University…

  • Comet’s flyby of Mars a boon for scientists

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    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS “SPACE PLACE” & USED WITH PERMISSION Artist’s concept of comet Siding Spring buzzing Mars. Credit: NASA The red planet’s brush with Comet Siding Spring Sunday was a close encounter of the best kind for science, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to study a pristine remnant of the solar system’s birth 4.6 billion years ago…

  • Fleet of Mars probes set to observe comet flyby

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    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS “SPACE PLACE” & USED WITH PERMISSION An artist’s concept of Comet Siding Spring (2013 A1) and Mars. Closest approach to Mars is on Oct. 19, 2014. Credit: NASA An international fleet of five Mars orbiters and two rovers will have ringside seats when a mountain-size comet streaks by on Oct. 19, passing…