NASA’s Stardust spacecraft will have a special Valentine’s Day rendezvous with Comet Tempel-1 tonight. This is the second time NASA has visited the comet — the first was in 2005 when the Deep Impact spacecraft made a planned impact on the comet’s surface.

NASA image taken shortly after Deep Impact collided with Comet Tempel-1

Update: NASA has received images from the Stardust spacecraft, but it appears the crater left by Deep Impact has “healed” to some extent.

Recommended reading:

• NASA’s Discovery Mission: Deep Impact
• NASA’s Discovery Mission: Stardust-NExT
• Solar System Exploration: Comets
  

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