Stardust Spacecraft Beams Images of Comet Tempel 1

Stardust Spacecraft Beams Images of Comet Tempel-1

On February 14, 2011, NASA's Stardust pacecraft came within about  111 miles (178 kilometers) of Comet Tempel 1 and began beaming back photos of the comet.

72 high-resolution photos were taken during the mission.

Stardust also recorded data about dust in the comet's coma.

In July 2005, the Deep Impact xpacecraft shot an 827-pound (375 kg) projectile into the comet.  

Scientists are using the images obtain from the Stardust NExT (New Exploration of Tempel 1) mission to find out how the comet has changed since then. 

During that time, Tempel 1 revolved around the Sun once.

The new photos show that the crater that was produced by the projectile is more subdued than expected. Much of the debris seems to have fallen back into the crater, settling where it was originally.   This implies that the nucleus of the comet is fragile.

The new photos allow scientists to view never-before-seen sides of the comet and to see how the terrain has been altered by erosion. In some places, the surface of Tempel 1 is covered with pits and pockets, while the surface has thick layers in other places.

According to Joe Veverka, the principal investigator of the mission, a depression in Tempel 1's surface had lost a large amount of material since Deep Impact's visit to the comet.