This article is more than 1 year old

Human spacecraft dodge COMET CHUNKS pelting off Mars

Odyssey orbiter yet to report, though - comet's trailing trash poses new threat

Comet Siding Spring has made a close pass by Mars, apparently without incident to the human-built machines in the neighbourhood.

NASA says the “Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter … continues operating in good health after sheltering behind Mars during the half hour when high-velocity dust particles from comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring had the most chance of reaching the paths of Mars orbiters.”

The craft remained in radio contact with Earth throughout the event and is beaming back its observations as we speak. The limitation of IDSL – that's interplanetary digital subscriber line for those unfamiliar with the made-up acronym – mean it will be a few days before all the data lands. And of course it will take rather longer before boffins are ready to draw sensible conclusions about it.

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft also survived its cometary counter. NASA says “it reported back to Earth in good health after about three hours of precautions against a possible collision with high-velocity dust particles”. NASA's third martian Orbiter, Odyssey, is yet to phone home.

In case you missed the comet, here's Astronomy Today's archived video of the event .

The show's not over: Siding Springs will be followed by trailing trash. We'll update this story with vids and pics as they become available. ®

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like