NASA Science Briefing: Comet Siding Spring at Mars

NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity passed near a young crater this spring during the 45th anniversary of Apollo 16’s trip to Earth’s moon, prompting a connection between two missions.

Look low to the south-southeast at 11:35pm BST tonight and, if the current British “monsoon” clears, you will see the full Moon rising at dusk at the instant the 2016 summer solstice occurs in the Northern Hemisphere. The last time that this happened on the same UK day was 22 June 1967.

Images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provide dramatic before-and-after shots of Mars showing the impact of a global dust storm that has obscured the surface.