Four different views of comet Tempel 1 as seen by NASA's Stardust spacecraft as it flew by on 14 February 2011. The images progress in time beginning at upper left, moving to upper right, then proceeding from lower left to lower right. When the spacecraft first approached, it got a clear look at the same surface that was imaged previously by NASA's Deep Impact mission in 2005. Deep Impact sent a projectile into the comet, creating a crater that is located in the upper left image. As Stardust flew closer to the comet, it began to see new territory that had not been imaged before. The new territory appears on the left side of the upper right image. The Deep Impact crater is also located in this view, on the right side.

Credit : EPA / NASA / JPL