NASA’s EPOXI spacecraft is scheduled to pass Comet Hartley 2 tonight at 11.50 am AEST (add one hour if daylight savings applies in your state or territory) at a mere 700 kilometers distance.
Assuming the flyby is successful, the EPOXI spacecraft will become only the fifth spacecraft that has been close enough to image a comet’s nucleus (imagine a very dirty iceberg). This is also the second time that this spacecraft has visited a comet. The first was Comet Tempel 1 in July 2005.
NASA will be webcasting coverage of the flyby from 11.30 pm AEST 4 November – 1.15 am AEST 5 November 2010. Assuming all goes well, the spacecraft is programmed to start transmitting images back to Earth 30 minutes after closest approach. NASA has stated that it will upload 5 raw images as soon as they are available from the spacecraft to the EPOXI spacecraft website. A press conference is scheduled to occur at 6 am AEST tomorrow morning (5 November).
