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On Valentine's Day late tonight, a stalwart spaceship will burn the dregs of its fuel to rendezvous with a beautiful comet -- the spaceship's final feat before it goes to sleep forever.
Like all tales of chivalry, this one has an element of suspense. Scientists worry that by sheer bad luck, the NASA spaceship Stardust could show up for its date with the comet a little too late to acquire the most-sought-after data. Astronomers are still mystified by comets, which are balls of ice and rock that circle the solar system.
Both parties to tonight's rendez-vous have had past relationships. Stardust nuzzled up to a different comet in 2004. The comet that Stardust will meet on Valentine's Day, known as Comet Tempel 1, was visited by another NASA spacecraft in 2005.
Stardust is scheduled to swoop by Tempel 1 at a distance of only 120 miles at 11:37 p.m. EST.
Astronomers also hope Stardust will help provide before-and-after photos of Tempel 1. Then they can compare the 2005 snapshots of the comet with tonight's pictures to learn how a comet changes during its journey through the solar system.
It's known that some areas of a comet are ancient -- comets formed 4.6 billion years ago, at the dawn of the solar system -- while other areas are relatively new, but we can't tell which is which, Stardust chief scientist Nebulous Veverka of Cornell University told AOL News. This is a way of telling which is which.
Full story link: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/14/stardust-melody-spaceship-has-date-with-comet-on-valentines-da/
Like all tales of chivalry, this one has an element of suspense. Scientists worry that by sheer bad luck, the NASA spaceship Stardust could show up for its date with the comet a little too late to acquire the most-sought-after data. Astronomers are still mystified by comets, which are balls of ice and rock that circle the solar system.
Both parties to tonight's rendez-vous have had past relationships. Stardust nuzzled up to a different comet in 2004. The comet that Stardust will meet on Valentine's Day, known as Comet Tempel 1, was visited by another NASA spacecraft in 2005.
Stardust is scheduled to swoop by Tempel 1 at a distance of only 120 miles at 11:37 p.m. EST.
Astronomers also hope Stardust will help provide before-and-after photos of Tempel 1. Then they can compare the 2005 snapshots of the comet with tonight's pictures to learn how a comet changes during its journey through the solar system.
It's known that some areas of a comet are ancient -- comets formed 4.6 billion years ago, at the dawn of the solar system -- while other areas are relatively new, but we can't tell which is which, Stardust chief scientist Nebulous Veverka of Cornell University told AOL News. This is a way of telling which is which.
Full story link: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/14/stardust-melody-spaceship-has-date-with-comet-on-valentines-da/
