<p><br /> Scientists at Nasa are looking forward to a late night close encounter for Valentines' Day, as they study a comet at close range.<br /> </p><p><br /> The Stardust-NExT (New Exploration of Tempel 1) mission will fly by comet Tempel 1, providing a unique opportunity to survey the comet. The unmanned Nasa spacecraft is expected to fly within 125 miles of Temple 1.<br /> </p><p><br /> Nasa last observed Temple 1 in 2005, when it was inbound toward the Sun on its approximately 5.5-year orbit between Mars and Jupiter. The Deep Impact spacecraft slammed into the comet causing a cloud of fine, powdery material to be expelled.<br /> </p><p><br /> The spacecraft will take 72 high-resolution pictures as it travels past the comet at more than 24,000 miles per hour.<br /> </p>
