Report live from the Mars Express operations team at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.<br /><br />Europe’s Mars orbiter and its scientific instruments had a frontrow seat when Comet Siding Spring grazed the Red Planet, skimming past at a little more than a third of the Moon’s distance from Earth. <br /><br />Siding Spring, discovered in January 2013, is less than a kilometre across and passed Mars at 56 km/s, closing to within 139 500 km at 18:27 GMT (20:27 CEST) on 19 October 2014.<br /><br />More about Mars Express:<br />http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express <br />http://blogs.esa.int/mex
