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Video: Comet Siding Spring’s close encounter with Mars

Posted by in Science Wire | Space | October 19, 2014

Here’s a 2-minute video on the comet’s October 19 near-miss of Mars, and how orbiting spacecraft will evade onslaught of dust particles from the comet.

Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring will make a very close flyby of Mars on October 19. Passing at a distance of only 87,000 miles – that’s little more than 1/3 the distance between Earth and our moon – it’ll be a near miss of the Red Planet. Find out how NASA’s Mars orbiters will evade the onslaught of dust particles from the comet.

Want to know more? Everything you need to know, including the latest news, about Comet Siding Spring is here.

Eleanor Imster

Eleanor Imster

Eleanor Imster has helped write and edit EarthSky since 1995. She was an integral part of the award-winning EarthSky radio series almost since it began until it ended in 2013. Today, as Lead Editor at EarthSky.org, she helps present the science and nature stories and photos you enjoy. She also serves as one of the voices of EarthSky on social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and G+. She and her husband live in Tennessee and have two grown sons.

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