Comet Siding Spring Buzzes Mars

The comet siding spring whizzed within 87 000 miles of mars close enough for nasa to force its fleet of spacecraft orbiting mars to duck for cover.

Comet siding spring buzzes mars.

Nasa a comet on a once in a million years journey will graze the atmosphere of mars. Spacecraft are not to scale in a rare cosmic close encounter the comet siding spring. Edt 1827 gmt today about one third of the distance between earth and the moon. Comet siding spring mars flyby on sunday oct.

The comet siding spring whizzed within 87 000 miles of mars close enough to the red planet that the fleet of spacecraft orbiting mars ducked for cover. An artist s conception of comet siding spring and mars. Comet siding spring s close encounter with the fleet of orbiters and rovers at mars is expected to give scientists their most detailed look yet at an object from the oort cloud. Comet siding spring hails from the oort cloud.

Comet siding spring s dust tail will completely engulf the entire planet when mars travels through it. Several spacecraft from nasa europe and india were expected to track the comet s approach from their positions in orbit. Comet siding spring came within just 87 000 miles 139 500 kilometers of the martian surface at 2 27 p m. In october comet siding spring will buzz mars at 125 000 miles per hour and close enough for the comet s tail of gas and dust to envelop the planet.

Hubble images show comet siding spring has passed the snow and water lines the points at which the sun s warmth activates or releases gases and water ice to form the coma and tail. The comet will buzz the red planet on october 19.