NASA craft prepares for Valentine's Day date with comet Tempel 1..........

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[img]http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00361/VBK-TEMPEL_1_361486e.jpg[/img]
"This file photo provided by NASA in 2005 shows comet Tempel 1 at the moment of impact with NASA's Deep Impact probe as it smashed into its surface. The probe crashed between the two dark-rimmed craters near the center and bottom of the comet."


NASA’s spacecraft Stardust-NexT is preparing for a date on Valentine’s Day with comet Tempel 1 at 11:37 p.m. EST.

The mission will enable scientists to study the changes that occurred on the comet’s surface after it orbited the Sun. Data from the mission will provide important new information on how Jupiter-family comets evolved and formed.

"Every day we are getting closer and closer and more and more excited about answering some fundamental questions about comets. Going back for another look at Tempel 1 will provide new insights on how comets work and how they were put together four-and-a-half billion years ago,” said Joe Veverka, Stardust-NExT principal investigator at Cornell University.

Stardust-NExT will be almost on the exact opposite side of the solar system at the said time and will take 72 images and store them in an on board computer.