Lander manager says Philae is doing well but battery life is low

Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft — six months into its research mission at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko — made its closest flyby of the comet’s boulder-strewn nucleus Saturday, capturing new photos and measurements to help scientists unravel how the duck-shaped body is evolving on its orbit around the sun.

Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) was discovered by on August 11 by Hideo Nishimura of Japan. It’s currently in the pre-dawn sky and visible through large binoculars, but you’ll need to observe as soon as possible this week.

Science teams from across the United States have submitted 28 proposals for missions to explore the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, touch the asteroid-like satellites orbiting Mars, visit unseen worlds and hunt for objects that could strike Earth one day.