Watch it with your sweetie live tonight at 11:30 -- Can you get more romantic?
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This will be the second comet rendezvous for Stardust-NExT, which caught dusty bits of comet Wild 2 in 2004 and sent them back to Earth.
It will also be the second encounter with a spacecraft for Tempel 1, which collided with the Deep Impactprobe in 2005. Combined with Deep Impact�s visit, the Stardust-NExT flyby will give astronomers their first view of a complete cometary circuit around the sun, and the best picture yet of how the sun devours a comet.
�We know that comets lose material,� said astronomer Joe Veverka of Cornell University, principle investigator of the Stardust-NExT mission, in a recent press conference. �But the question is, how does the surface change, and where does the surface change?�
At closest approach, Stardust-NExT will come within 120 miles of the comet�s core. Astronomers hope to get a good look at the scars Deep Impact left behind, and to map some uncharted territory on the comet�s dusty, icy surface. Of particular interest are parts of the surface that look like they�re layered like a stack of pancakes. Another intriguing spot is a large plateau that looks like material flowed across it in the recent past.
The flyby will air live on NASA TV from 11:30 pm Eastern time on Feb. 14 to 1 am Eastern time on Feb. 15. The spacecraft is expected to make its closest approach at 11:37, although confirmation won�t reach Earth until 11:56. But if you don�t want to stay up that late, we�ll have a re-cap tomorrow.
Image: Comet Tempel 1 immediately after its brief, explosive relationship with Deep Impact. Credit: NASA
NASA Craft Snaps Images of Comet in Valentine Fling - NYTimes.com
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