Tempel 1 / Stardust-NExT Flyby: How2 Watch Online

"5 Valentine's Day Facts About NASA's Comet Tempel 1 Flyby"
Space.com (February 14, 2011)

"NASA's Stardust spacecraft will zip close by the comet Tempel 1 tonight (Feb. 14) in a cosmic Valentine's Day rendezvous to take a new look at the icy wanderer.

"The cosmic flyby will mark the second comet visited by the Stardust spacecraft – as part of its extended Stardust-NExT mission – as well as the second time an unmanned probe from Earth has approached Tempel 1.

"In 2005, NASA's Deep Impact mission visited comet Tempel 1 and intentionally crashed a probe into the comet to determine its composition. Researchers hope tonight's Stardust flyby will give scientists a fresh look at the damage inflicted by the Deep Impact crash...."

The rest of the article is a sort of Valentines-Day-themed list of interesting facts about the Tempel 1 mission.

How to Watch the Tempel 1 Flyby Online

"Want to Watch NASA's Comet Tempel 1 Flyby? Here's How"
Space.com (February 14, 2011)

"NASA's Stardust spacecraft may be 209 million miles from Earth when it snuggles up to comet Tempel 1 tonight (Feb. 14), but that doesn't mean the rest of us will have to miss out. NASA is giving the public several ways to see the comet flyby online.

"First, a bit of cosmic scheduling info: The Stardust spacecraft will fly by comet Tempel 1 tonight at 11:37 p.m. EST (8:37 p.m. PST, 0437 Feb. 15 GMT). That's the time of closest approach, though cameras on Stardust have already been able to spot comet Tempel 1. The flyby is part of NASA's Stardust-NExT flight, which extended the Stardust probe's original mission after it visited the comet Wild 2 in 2004.

"How to watch Stardust-NExT's comet rendezvous:

"NASA will broadcast the flyby live on NASA TV starting at 11:30 p.m. EST. If you don't get NASA TV on your televisions at home, you can watch the webcast here: here: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv...."

Hey! What are you still doing, reading this post? If you're interested in the Tempel 1 / Stardust-NExT flyby - follow that link.

Or, if the flyby's already happened by the time you read this, you can try these:

• "Stardust-Next & Comet Tempel 1"
  NASA
• "The Two Faces of Tempel 1"
  NASA (February 9, 2011)