QUESTION:
How could a comet affect the Shuttle? With some kind of electromagnetic
interference? Is the Shuttle prepared for such an event?

ANSWER from Merton C. Flemings, Sc.D. on May 7, 1997:
The comet you saw is Comet Hale-Bopp, discovered by two Americans in
1995.  Its passage through our solar system has been one of the most
impressive astronomical sights in history, but fortunately it presents
no danger either for the Space Shuttle or for us here on Earth.

Comets are composed mostly of ice, rock, and dust, so there could indeed be
damage to the Space Shuttle if Hale-Bopp were to pass close enough to it;
since the Shuttle is moving at many thousands of kilometers per hour through
space, any small pieces of matter that it encounters can potentially damage
its hull.  Fortunately, even at its closest approach, the comet will still
be about 120 million miles away--even further away from the Shuttle than the
Sun is!

The Shuttle has a lot more to worry about closer to Earth, in the form of
the "space garbage" that accompanies it in orbit around the Earth. Over the
years, mankind has polluted even that environment with discarded equipment,
waste materials, dead satellites, and other manmade junk.  There have
actually been minor collisions in the past! The best defense for the Shuttle
against this danger is for the astronauts to turn their ship in orbit so
that the strongest part of the spacecraft (the rear thruster area) will be
the first to encounter any debris.

If you'd like to learn more about Comet Hale-Bopp and you have access
to the World Wide Web, check out the following address:
http://www.vis-con.com/singles/comet.html