Mars spacecraft take cover from comet dust
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.028140
Los Angeles Times : As Comet Siding Spring, or C/2013 A1, goes hurtling past Mars in October, scientists are worried about the safety of spacecraft flying in its vicinity. The comet itself poses no threat; rather, the danger lies in the comet’s tail, which is made up of a stream of tiny dust particles zipping along at more than 55 km/s, like tiny cannonballs or bullets. To protect the three spacecraft orbiting Mars—the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Odyssey, and MAVEN—engineers are adjusting the crafts’ speed so that they will end up on the opposite side of Mars as the comet passes. By using Mars as a shield, the spacecraft should be able to avoid contact with the bulk of the comet’s dust particles.
