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Comet Tempel-1 from Stardust NeXT Spacecraft (Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)
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Caption NASA:"At the time of the encounter, comet Tempel-1 was approx. 335 MKM (about 208 MMs) away from Earth.
Tempel-1 is oblong in shape and has an average diameter of about 6 Km (approx. 4 miles). Stardust-NExT is an extended mission for the comet chaser, which previously flew past comet Wild 2 and returned some samples from its Coma to Earth.
During this latest encounter, the Spacecraft took images of the Comet's Surface and observed changes that occurred since a NASA Spacecraft last visited it (NASA's Deep Impact Spacecraft had an encounter with Tempel-1 in July 2005).
Stardust-NExT is a low-cost mission that is expanding the investigation of comet Tempel-1 initiated by the Deep Impact Spacecraft.
The mission is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the Spacecraft and manages day-to-day mission operations".
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(Dettagli)
