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These are the first images are coming back to Earth from a NASA spacecraft that has flown close to a small comet. The Deep Impact craft flew within 435 miles of comet Hartley 2 today snapping pictures during the rendezvous.
The images at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California reveal a peanut-shaped comet. It is the fifth time that a comet's core has been viewed up close. Today's mission is not the first for Deep Impact. In 2005, it dazzled the world when it fired a copper probe into another comet, Tempel 1, giving scientists their first look at the interior.
Scientists are interested in comets because they're icy leftovers from the formation of the solar system. Studying them could provide clues to how Earth and the planets formed 4.5 billion years ago.
Comets are icy bodies left over from the formation of the solar system some 4.5 billion years ago. Studying them could provide clues to how Earth and the planets formed and evolved.
'The mission team and scientists have worked hard for this day,' said Tim Larson, EPOXI project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. 'It's good to see Hartley 2 up close.'
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