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Comet Hartley 2's hyperactive state, as studied by NASA's EPOXI mission, is detailed in a new paper published in this week's issue of the journal Science.After visiting a comet and imaging distant stars for hints of extrasolar planets, you could say the spacecraft used for EPOXI had seen its fair share of celestial wonders. But after about 3.2 billion miles (5.1 billion kilometers) of deep space travel, one final wonder awaited the mission's project and science teams. On Nov. 4, 2010, the...
CO2 jets confirmed, new insight into composition, 'excited' rotation and surface features revealedComet Hartley 2, is in a hyperactive class of its own compared to other comets visited by spacecraft, says a University of Maryland-led study published in the June 17 issue of the journal Science.The comet was visited last fall by NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft during its EPOXI mission. The EPOXI science team's new, in-depth analysis of the images and data taken during the flyby confirms its...
WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on the EPOXI mission's successful flyby of comet Hartley 2: (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) "NASA extended its pioneering exploration of the solar system today with the successful flyby of comet Hartley 2 by our EPOXI mission. The stunning new images returned of the comet as it...
NASA's EPOXI mission successfully flew by comet Hartley 2 at about 7 a.m. PDT (10 a.m. EDT) today, and the spacecraft has begun returning images. Hartley 2 is the fifth comet nucleus visited by a spacecraft.Scientists and mission controllers are currently viewing never-before-seen images of Hartley 2 appearing on their computer terminal screens."The mission team and scientists have worked hard for this day," said Tim Larson, EPOXI project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,...
The EPOXI mission spacecraft has refined its path toward a Nov. 4 flyby of comet Hartley 2, successfully performing its final maneuver Tuesday at 8 a.m. PDT (11 a.m. EDT). The spacecraft burned its engines for 6.8 seconds, changing the spacecraft's velocity by 1.4 meters per second (3 miles per hour)."I've worked the Stardust flyby of comet Wild 2 and the Deep Impact encounter with comet Tempel 1, and I have never seen a comet flit around the sky like this one," said mission...
Over the last 40 years, Malcolm Hartley has done just about every possible job for Siding Spring Observatory's UK Schmidt telescope in New South Wales, Australia. The British-born, Scottish-educated Hartley has logged time as the 1.2 meter (3.9 foot) telescope's observer, processor, copier, hypersensitization expert, and quality controller.On the afternoon of March 16, 1986, Hartley's job was that last one -- quality control. In that role, he was the first to view each 36-by-36 centimeter...
Two movies derived from images taken by the two cameras aboard NASA's EPOXI mission spacecraft show comet Hartley 2 is, as expected, quite active, and it provides information on the nucleus's rotation. The spacecraft has been imaging Hartley 2 almost daily since Sept. 5, in preparation for its scheduled Nov. 4 flyby of the comet."The comet brings us new surprises every day," said Michael A'Hearn, EPOXI principal investigator from the University of Maryland, College Park. "The...
NASA will hold a series of news and educational events about the EPOXI mission's close encounter with comet Hartley 2, scheduled to occur at approximately 7 a.m. PDT (10 a.m. EDT) on Thursday, Nov. 4. The spacecraft will provide the most extensive observations of a comet in history.Tuesday, Nov. 2: The public is invited to a free lecture on Nov. 2 by the discoverer of comet Hartley 2, Malcolm Hartley. The lecture will take place at JPL's von Karman Auditorium at 7 p.m. PDT. Hartley, a...
In one of its final mission trajectory correction maneuvers, the EPOXI mission spacecraft has refined its orbit, preparing it for the flyby of comet Hartley 2 on Nov. 4. The time of closest approach to the comet on that day is expected to be about 7:02 a.m. PDT (10:02 a.m. EDT).Yesterday's trajectory correction maneuver began at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT), when the spacecraft burned its engines for 60 seconds, changing its velocity by 1.59 meters per second (3.6 miles per hour).On Nov. 4, the...
NASA's EPOXI mission continues to close in on its target, comet Hartley 2, at a rate of 12.5 kilometers (7.8 miles) per second. On Nov. 4 at about 10:01 a.m. EDT (7:01 a.m. PDT) the spacecraft will make its closest approach to the comet at a distance of about 700 kilometers (434 miles). It will be the fifth time that a comet has been imaged close-up and the first time in history that two comets have been imaged with the same instruments and same spatial resolution."Hartley 2 has already...
