Comet harpoon is being developed by Nasa to collect samples

Comet harpoon is being developed by Nasa to collect samples

Collecting samples from a rotating rock in space that’s travelling at 150,000mph while spewing chunks of ice, rock and dust is a tall order, but Nasa think they have a neat solution – a harpoon.

Scientists at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, are in the early stages of working out the best design for such a sample-collecting comet harpoon.

Comet samples could reveal clues to scientists about how planets - and life on Earth - formed and help work out how to deflect one that has Earth in its crosshairs.

The researchers want to send a spacecraft to rendezvous with a comet, then fire a harpoon to rapidly acquire samples from specific locations with surgical precision while hovering above the target. Read more