Eyes are on our neighbor Mars as Comet C / 2013 A1, known as Siding Spring , will pass 139,500 kilometers from the Red Planet , less than half the distance between Earth and the Moon, and closer than any known Comet flyby on Earth.
This milestone in astronomy means that NASA has put to work to mobilize space and terrestrial telescopes (Hubble, Kepler, Swift, Spitzer, Chandra and the Infrared Telescope of eMauna Kea, Hawaii), as well as the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers, to catch this event .
The most critical moment will be at 14.27 GMT on October 19, since it will be the point of closest approach, where the comet will pass at 56 kilometers per second . The comet’s proximity to the red planet is an incredible opportunity to collect data both on the comet and on the effects its passage through the Martian atmosphere will have.
“This is a gift from cosmic science and various agency science missions will be in full reception mode. This particular comet had never entered the inner solar system before, so it will provide a new source of clues to the early days of our solar system, ”says NASA’s John Grunsfeld.
The comet, coming from the Oort Cloud, will be the first comet in this area to be closely studied by spacecraft that orbit and transit the surface of Mars . For this reason, the Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, the last to join this project, were redirected to reduce as much as possible the risk of impact with high-speed dust particles that safely they will detach from the comet.
“ The danger is not an impact from the comet’s nucleus, but the debris trail coming from it. With the limitations predicted by observations made from Earth, the results of the models indicate that the risk is not as great as had been anticipated. Mars will be right on the edge of the debris cloud, so it might encounter some of the particles – or it might not, ”explains Rich Zurek, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
