Close Comet Encounter with Mars

Getting up close to a comet is hard. Getting up close to a pristine comet fresh from the Oort Cloud is even harder. Getting close to a pristine comet while orbiting another planet and in fact, on an entirely separate mission is...well, those are some long odds. And as you might have guessed, that is exactly what happened this past weekend when Comet Siding Spring came within 100,000 miles of Mars. That is very, very close.  Normally, we wouldn't have an opportunity to get a real good look at a comet from the Oort Cloud, because there just isn't enough warning. But wouldn't you know it, we've got spacecraft orbiting Mars. So, they diverted their attention for a while and hopefully we'll get some great images, and useful information. This is hopefully just the prequel post to a more substantial post with actual images of the comet. It takes time for things to process.

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