Latest EPOXI Stories

According to a new study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, the Earth's ocean may have been created by comets. Measurements taken from the Herschel Space Observatory show that comet Hartley 2 contains water with the same chemical signature as Earth's oceans. This comet lies in the Kuiper Belt about 30 to 50 times as far away as the distance between Earth and the sun. "Our results with Herschel suggest that comets could have played a major role in bringing vast amounts of...

The latest analysis of data from NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft shows that comet 103P/Hartley 2 is hyperactive in terms of the material it spews out, compared to the other comets observed up close to date.  The comet also shows surprising diversity - ice on the comet’s sunlit surface is found in patches that are isolated from areas of dust. In addition, one lobe of the dog-bone shaped comet may have lost much more of the primordial material from the formation of the comet than the other,...

By Karen C. Fox, NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterOn Nov. 4, 2010, NASA's EPOXI spacecraft came within 450 miles of Comet Hartley 2, a small comet not even a mile in diameter, which takes about six and a half years to orbit the sun. Designated officially as 103P/Hartley 2, the comet thus became the fifth for which scientists have collected close-up images.But the comet was also observed from another spacecraft: the Solar and Heliospheric Observer (SOHO), better known for its observations of...

New findings from NEOWISE, the asteroid- and comet-hunting portion of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission, show that comet Hartley 2 leaves a pebbly trail as it laps the sun, dotted with grains as big as golf balls.Previously, NASA's EPOXI mission, which flew by the comet on Nov. 4, 2010, found golf ball- to basketball-sized fluffy ice particles streaming off comet Hartley 2. NEOWISE data show that the golf ball-sized chunks survive farther away from the comet than previously...

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...

Eighty-six days out from its appointment with a comet, NASA's Stardust spacecraft fired its thrusters to help refine its flight path. The Stardust-NExT mission will fly past comet Tempel 1 next Valentine's Day (Feb. 14, 2011). It will perform NASA's second comet flyby within four months."One comet down, one to go," said Tim Larson, project manager for both the Stardust-NExT mission and the EPOXI mission -- which successfully flew past comet Hartley 2 on Nov. 4.The trajectory...

Scientists have analyzed images from the EPOXI mission's pictures taken of comet Hartley 2 and found a cometary snow storm created by carbon dioxide jets spewing out tons of ice particles. Scientists compared the new images to ones taken from a comet the spacecraft had previously visited, Tempel 1.  "This is the first time we've ever seen individual chunks of ice in the cloud around a comet or jets definitively powered by carbon dioxide gas," Michael A'Hearn, principal...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The EPOXI mission's recent encounter with comet Hartley 2 provided the first images clear enough for scientists to link jets of dust and gas with specific surface features. NASA and other scientists have begun to analyze the images. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The EPOXI spacecraft revealed a cometary snow storm created by carbon dioxide...

NASA will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. EST on Thursday, Nov. 18, to discuss new scientific findings from the recent EPOXI mission spacecraft encounter with comet Hartley 2.The news conference will originate from the NASA Headquarters auditorium at 300 E St. SW in Washington. It will be carried live on NASA Television.Media representatives may attend the conference, ask questions by phone or from participating NASA locations. To RSVP or obtain dial-in information, journalists must send...