VIVAnews - Mission-Next NASA's Stardust comet Tempel 1 and meet each other in space, right on Valentine's Day, 14 February.Although not intersect, a meeting between them will be very close.
Stardust-Next meeting with Tempel 1 was a meeting of the second spacecraft to the comet on July 4, 2005 after then. At that time, the aircraft from NASA's Deep Impact managed a sensor toward Tempel 1 while watching him when passing.
Stardust-Next, the mission that launched 4.5 years ago served to expand the investigation conducted by the Deep Impact. The result is expected to reveal more information about the solar system.
"Stardust-Next have started sending pictures of the comet taken on January 18, from a distance of 26.2 million miles and 19 January from a distance of 25.4 million kilometers," said Joe Veverka, a scientist from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California, United States .
As quoted from Upi, February 11, 2011, on 14 February next, Stardust-Next will fly a distance of only 199.5 kilometers with a comet.
"We have received the first pictures around the comet Tempel 1," said Veverka. "Meeting spacecraft with celestial bodies are so small and quick like a comet in space is a vast challenge, but we are glad all are well prepared," he said.
Comet Tempel 1 comet itself is measuring 7.6 x 4.9 kilometers. He orbits the Sun with a period of 5.52 years. Called Tempel 1 because it was first discovered by Wilhelm Tempel, an astronomer who worked in France on April 3, 1867.
• VIVAnews
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