NASA's Stunning Close-Up Photos of Comet Hartley 2

Several readers have sent word that NASA's EPOXI spacecraft performed a close approach to comet Hartley 2 yesterday, taking pictures within roughly 700km of the nucleus. Bad Astronomer Phil Plait has a collection of some fantastic photographs, and you can check out a ton of other images on the mission website. The Planetary Society blog put together a neat animation of the flyby. NASA's mission fact sheet (PDF) explains EPOXI's background — it's the supplemental mission of the Deep Impact craft that smashed a small probe into a different comet back in 2005 — and why Hartley 2 was chosen for this flyby (they couldn't find their original target).

Comments

Pedantic Naming Clarification

[BJ_Covert_Action]

Several readers have sent word that NASA's EPOXI spacecraft ....

EPOXI is the name of the mission (an extension of a previous mission), the spacecraft itself is actually called Deep Impact. Just trying to clear up the ambiguity.

Re:No rest for the weary

[ArsonSmith]

Yes, the EPOXI team really stuck together. Bringing both parts mixed well and things really solidified. You could say the real glue of the mission.