Tag Archives: Comet Siding Spring

Comet’s flyby overwhelmed Mars’ magnetic field

Posted on March 9, 2016 by rburnham

Just weeks before the historic encounter of comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) with Mars in October 2014, NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft entered orbit around the Red Planet. To protect sensitive equipment aboard MAVEN from possible harm, … Continue reading →

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Mars Orbiter Mission: Comet Siding Spring

Posted on November 21, 2014 by rburnham

November 12, 2014: Comet Siding Spring, taken by the Mars Color Camera. The streak in top-center image may be a jet from the nucleus, which is out of the frame. [More at link]

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Comet Siding Spring’s effects on Mars atmosphere

Posted on November 7, 2014 by rburnham

Two NASA and one European spacecraft that obtained the first up-close observations of a comet flyby of Mars on Oct. 19, have gathered new information about the basic properties of the comet’s nucleus and directly detected the effects on the … Continue reading →

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Curiosity images Comet Siding Spring

Posted on November 6, 2014 by rburnham

This animation and still image of comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring were taken by the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover as the comet passed near the red planet on Oct. 19, 2014. The animation consists of 10 … Continue reading →

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NASA telecon to discuss Mars comet findings

Posted on November 5, 2014 by rburnham

NASA will host a media teleconference at 9 a.m. PST (noon EST) on Friday, Nov. 7, to provide initial science observations of comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring’s close flyby of Mars and the impact on the Martian atmosphere. Briefing participants … Continue reading →

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HRSC: Comet Siding Spring

Posted on November 4, 2014 by rburnham

Comet Siding Spring came extraordinarily close to Mars as it whizzed by on 19 October 2014. The celestial body – a mere 500 metres in diameter – passed the Red Planet at a distance of just 137 000 kilometres, where it … Continue reading →

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MAVEN Status update: October 31, 2014

Posted on October 31, 2014 by rburnham

October was a very busy time for the team. We performed a total of three engine burns this month in order to get MAVEN down to its planned science orbit with an orbital period of 4.6 hours and a periapsis … Continue reading →

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CRISM: Comet nucleus in infrared

Posted on October 24, 2014 by rburnham

The Compact Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) observed comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring as the comet sped close to Mars on Oct. 19. CRISM recorded imaging data in 107 different wavelengths, showing the inner part of the cloud of dust, … Continue reading →

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MAVEN: Comet’s atomic hydrogen coma in UV

Posted on October 23, 2014 by rburnham

The MAVEN spacecraft obtained an ultraviolet image of hydrogen surrounding comet Siding Spring on Friday, October 17th, two days before the comet’s closest approach to Mars. The Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument imaged the comet at a distance of 5.3 … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Comet nucleus smaller than 500 meters

Posted on October 21, 2014 by rburnham

These images were taken of comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Oct. 19, 2014, during the comet’s close flyby of Mars and the spacecraft. Comet Siding Spring is on its first trip this close to … Continue reading →

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