Red Planet Spacecraft Prepare for Rare Comet Encounter
NASA’s rovers and orbiters at Mars will witness a close encounter with a comet on October 19, an event that happens once every million years10-10-2014 | Mike Wall and SPACE.com
A comet will give Mars a historically close shave next weekend, and NASA aims to be ready for the dramatic cosmic event.
The space agency has already trained a number of its science assets on Comet Siding Spring, which will zoom within 87,000 miles (139,500 kilometers) of Mars on Oct. 19 — about one-third the distance between Earth and the moon. And NASA’s fleet of Red Planet orbiters and rovers will be watching on the big day, studying the comet and its influence on Mars’ atmosphere.
“On October 19, we’re going to observe an event that happens maybe once every million years,” Jim Green, director of NASA’s planetary science division, said during a news conference today (Oct. 9). “We’re getting ready for a spectacular set of observations.” [See photos of Comet Siding Spring]