Comet On Near-Collision Course With The Red Planet
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Mars is facing a close call this weekend. A rare comet will pass by the planet at an extremely close distance.
As Gigi Barnett explains, it will pass Mars at a distance that's closer than the moon from Earth.
More than 1 million years ago, a comet began its maiden journey into our inner solar system. Now the comet "Siding Spring" is less than 24 hours away from Mars.
"It's making a direct collision course towards Mars. The nucleus is just barely going to miss the planet," said Jared Espley, NASA scientist.
Espley says his team is watching Siding Spring closely because its nucleus of ice and rock contains remnants of the Big Bang. Gas and dust that surround the comet will linger behind, making a major impact on the Red Planet.
"If you were on the surface of Mars at the time when this comet comes by, the entire night sky will be filled with the coma, the gas, as it flies by," Espley said.
NASA is in prime position to capture Siding Spring. It has at least six orbiting satellites and several rovers on Mars right now. But Maven, the newest in the fleet, will probably get the best view.
"We'll be able to see the atmosphere heat up, we may even temporarily see the bits of the atmosphere being stripped away by the cometary gas," Espley said.
Because Siding Spring is on a near-collision course, NASA has timed its satellites to be on the far side of Mars and out of the comet's path when it arrives.
"The dust is actually sizable enough that if it were to hit a spacecraft moving at 100,000 miles per hour, that would be a very sad day for the spacecraft," said Espley.
While this is Siding Spring's first time flying through our solar system, it will be the last.
The comet will be closest to Mars on Sunday afternoon--East Coast time.
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