NASA | Observing Comet Siding Spring at Mars

Follow Comet Siding Spring at #MarsComet

On October 19, Comet Siding Spring will pass within 88,000 miles of Mars – just one third of the distance from the Earth to the Moon! Traveling at 33 miles per second and weighing as much as a small mountain, the comet hails from the outer fringes of our solar system, originating in a region of icy debris known as the Oort cloud.

Comets from the Oort cloud are both ancient and rare. Since this is Comet Siding Spring’s first trip through the inner solar system, scientists are excited to learn more about its composition and the effects of its gas and dust on the Mars upper atmosphere. NASA will be watching closely before, during, and after the flyby with its entire fleet of Mars orbiters and rovers, along with the Hubble Space Telescope and dozens of instruments on Earth. The encounter is certain to teach us more about Oort cloud comets, the Martian atmosphere, and the solar system’s earliest ingredients.

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[danopticon]

I love what science is capable of!! ❤️🚀✨

[letsu]

so you didn't mange to observe it? or you did you just don't want to show us the actual video?

[ZeroTwoBravo]

Ok it's been near 3 weeks since this event wers the feckin footage/ pics??

[Reaper]

EVERYTHING IS COMPUTER GENERATED IMAGES AND VIDEOS. LOOKS SO PRETTY THAT PEOPLE WILL BELEIVE IN SPACE THAT NO ONE SAW YET.

[oristhisjustfantasea]

Thanks. You explained everything nicely.

[Tlactl]

Our probes on mars will have the best seat in the house!

[curtissherrill]

when will we get the pictures from mars there should be much more to see 

[joslinhephza]

wow no recent comments? hello im from 2020

[rabbitos]

Why is it called Comet Siding Spring? What's the system they use for naming stuff like this?

[normanorr]

Never expected to know this much about a comet in my life time!

[TheWorldwar]

Right.  They only have 15 satellites, telescopes, and programs set up to capture data from Siding Spring plus only a year and half notice.  Only 5 satellites at Mars. Not enough?  

[khzproject]

what the hell with this videogame? where is the real videos? i dont really believe all of this graphics

[novatheumbreon]

Lucky Martians... We need a Martian base to see this stuff.

[lightsidemaster]

Just one question... why is a scientific space exploration organization still using imperial units?
You should be the first to start that change in America...

[jeremyacton]

The footage provided by NASA of this event when it happened was UTTERLY PATHETIC, and suggests a cover up and censoring of the event.

[VictorVonFox]

Light pollution sucks so much...i once showed my mother what space "really" looked like but she just laughed and said that the picture wasn't real.

[ukscooby]

Is anyone going to be streaming any live images/info?  Or do I have to wait for NASA to release a video?

[radioactivebanana]

Ok help me out with my question! CSS came in on the left side of Mars(our right), supposedly, but the modeling showed that CSS would be on the right side of Mars & then the left side of the Sun, so is this really the sun and not Mars?

And if that large green object hit the sun would we have a shockwave coming from the sun or a shockwave from Mars? How do you know the green ball was magnetic energy ball? It is the size of a planet if that is the sun.

[isaiahphillip]

What would happen if you get hit by a single bit of dust travelling 30 miles per second? I would assume it would go straight through you and create a hole so small you wouldn't even notice or feel it.

[Ravedaze.]

Very interesting but why can't we use the rover to look for beagle2 ?