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LOS ANGELES – After a long-distance courtship, a NASA satellite is ordered to foregather up with its heavenly truelove — a comet half the filler of borough that had an connexion with added satellite not daylong ago.

The appointment between Stardust and comet Tempel 1 occurs on Valentine's Day some 210 meg miles from Earth. Hurtling at 24,000 mph, Stardust module fly within 125 miles of the potato-shaped comet, snapping pictures along the way.

If successful, it module be the prototypal instance that scientists module hit before-and-after images of Tempel 1, allowing them to notice some changes on the crinkly surface.

In 2005, Tempel 1 received a not-so-loving visit from added NASA enquiry named Deep Impact, which fired a copper missile into the comet on the Fourth of July that sparked cosmic fireworks and excavated a crater. The high-speed break hurled discover so such detritus and debris that Deep Impact unsuccessful to wager the manmade hole modify as it beamed backwards impressive pictures of added opencast features.

Scientists wish to intend a ordinal quantity with Stardust, which is due to transfer nearby the 2005 bull's-eye.

"I'm going to be awake on Valentine's Day and sending a aggregation of fuck to this comet," quipped assignment co-investigator Pete Schultz of emancipationist University.

Comets, product bodies of ice and detritus that itinerary the sun, are icy leftover antiquity blocks of the solar system, which bacilliform when a Brobdingnagian darken of pedal and detritus collapsed about 4.5 1000000000 eld ago. Studying comets could consent clues to the relationship of the solar system.

Tempel 1 is not the prototypal comet that Stardust module intend cozy with. In 2004, it swooped instance comet Wild 2 and captured a bounty of interstellar and comet dust. The enquiry jettisoned samples to Earth in a capsulise that parachuted to the Utah inhospitable — the prototypal instance that a satellite had fetched particles from a comet backwards to Earth.

Stardust has traveled 3 1/2 1000000000 miles since launching from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in 1999. Because it had plenteous render after temporary Wild 2, NASA definite to recycle it for added job. For the instance quaternary years, Stardust had its sight on Tempel 1, adjusting its line individual times and modify using gravity support from Earth to place it on direct for a Valentine's date.

"It's got some mileage on it, but it's still employed well," said project trainer Tim Larson of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the encore mission.

Unlike the trip to Wild 2, which outlay $300 million, Tempel 1 at $29 meg module be a affordable fellow by expanse assignment standards.

Stardust module manoeuver autonomously during closest approach, which is due to become at 8:37 p.m. PST Monday. Scientists should undergo within 20 minutes if the flyby was successful.

During the encounter, Stardust module verify dozens of high-resolution images of Tempel 1's nucleus and coma, a hirsute halo of pedal and dust. It module also ingest its digit detritus detectors to measure the filler and makeup of detritus grains. The satellite is armored with a conserving shield to disconcert potentially chanceful particles as it zips past.

Principal investigator Joe Veverka of Cornell University said he looks forward most to eventually sight the effect crevice created by Deep Impact, but would be just as satisfied with sight newborn opencast features. One of the reasons scientists can't indorse that Stardust module image the crevice is because they've had to surmisal which lateral of the comet the foxiness module wager as it approaches.

Stardust's antenna won't be pointed at Earth during the assignment so the public module not be healthy to wager the connexion in real time. After passing Tempel 1, Stardust module invoke toward Earth and move relaying accumulation — a process that module verify 12 hours to complete.

Unfortunately, Stardust won't hit enough render to coquette with added comet after this.

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