Comet has near-miss with Mars

An artist drawing of Comet Siding Spring approaching Mars.

• Siding Spring came within 87,000 miles of Mars -- close for a comet flyby


• NASA protected its spacecraft orbiting the planet by having them hide


• The first of three NASA orbiters reported to be in good health

(CNN) -- It was the closest comet near-miss known to astronomers, but everything is alright.

Comet Siding Spring shaved past a planet's surface at one third the distance of the Earth to the moon. But it wasn't Earth in the cross hairs -- it was our neighbor Mars.

Earth got lucky in more than one way. With a gang of NASA orbiters and rovers on and around Mars, their cameras and instruments got a historic front row seat on the comet that NASA said made the closest recorded pass ever by any planet.

The three orbiters are just coming out of hiding.

The comet came so close that Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) had to duck and cover on the other side of the planet.

Otherwise, Siding Spring's debris of dust and gas flying at 126,000 miles per hour just 87,000 miles above Mars' surface could have blasted them like a shotgun.

They're all OK, NASA said in a statement. It will take a few days for them to transfer pictures and data to Earth.

Siding Spring has moved on. The comet does not pose a threat to Earth and was headed back out to the outer reaches of the solar system, NASA said.

Comet spectators

A new NASA spacecraft called MAVEN, short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, will help scientists figure out what happened to the red planet's atmosphere. Its elliptical orbit will allow it to pass through and sample the entire upper atmosphere of Mars. This drawing shows MAVEN orbiting Mars.

Is this ancient Mars? An artist shows how Mars might have looked billions of years ago. MAVEN will be the first mission devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. Scientists hope it will solve the mystery of the red planet's missing air and water.

Engineers and technicians work on MAVEN in November at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "After 10 years of working on this, I can't tell you how excited I am to see this finished spacecraft ready to go," said the mission's principal investigator, Bruce Jakosky.

Workers in November get MAVEN ready to be placed inside the nosecone that will protect it during launch. NASA says the project will cost $671 million.

Reporters and photographers wear protective gear as they get a look at the MAVEN spacecraft. Wingtip to wingtip, MAVEN is the same length of a school bus -- 37.5 feet.

A transporter moves MAVEN to the launchpad November 8. Three other active spacecrafts currently orbit Mars: Mars Odyssey (launched in 2001), Mars Express (launched by the European Space Agency in 2003), and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (launched in 2005).

MAVEN is NASA's 10th Mars orbiter to be launched. Three didn't make it to orbit.

An Atlas V rocket launches MAVEN into space November 18 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Photos: Mars MAVEN mission

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was the first of the spacecraft to report it was unharmed as the comet passed.

It made observations of the comet before sheltering behind Mars, NASA said.

"The spacecraft performed flawlessly throughout the comet flyby," said Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project Manager Dan Johnston of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "It maneuvered for the planned observations of the comet and emerged unscathed."

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter immediately began to transmit information to Earth, but the full downlink could take days, NASA said.

See NASA's YouTube video explaining comet flyby

Several Earth-based and space telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope, also took pictures.

The NASA rovers that are on the surface of Mars were protected by Mars' atmosphere, NASA said.

They watched Siding Spring much like a spectator would watch a comet flyby here on Earth.