Orbiters readjust as Comet Siding Spring approaches

As Comet Siding Spring approaches to make a close encounter with the Red Planet, the Mars Odyssey orbiter will have to change its orbit to avoid potential dangers. The orbital connection takes place on August 5th in anticipation of the celestial encounter taking place on October 19th.

The orbiter is worth $297 million, however there is no danger of it colliding with the comet but dust from the comet will be shot out at unbelievable speeds because of heating from the Sun and this could cause problems.

At its closest approach, the comet will come within 82,000 miles of Mars and at that point dust will be rushing at the speeds of more than 126,000 miles per hour. At these speeds particles as small as 1/50th of an inch could be hazardous.

NASA officials wrote in a press release that researchers plan to use instruments from the Mars orbiters to study the coma surrounding the nucleus, the tail of Siding Spring and its possible effects on Martian atmosphere. Attempts will be made to better understand the composition of the comet, coma a tail.The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) which is due to arrive just one month before the comet makes its close encounter will study the interaction between the comet and solar wind from the Sun and the effect of the gas on Martian atmosphere.

The period under which the planet shall encounter the greatest danger will last about twenty minutes and that is also when the spacecraft will be more at risk as this will be the period when the planet encounters the greatest concentrations of dust and debris from the comet.

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Roxanne Briean

I am a geek, a gamer and a writer. I have always been fascinated with the online community. At the moment I work as a full-time writer and study interior design. When I'm not scouring the net in search of interesting new gadgets and software I spend my time in MOBAs or drawing.