This is the _real_ reason why exploring space is important. We may think we know what we’re going to find, but we *don’t*. For example, a “comet in our own solar backyard”:http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/stardust_results_040319.html has “baffled space scientists”:http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/stardust_results_040617.html by refusing to conform to our ideas of how comets should act. Silly comet.

_A detailed analysis of the comet Wild 2 (pronounced “Vilt 2″) has left astronomers astounded at an object that has no known peers in the solar system._

_The comet, examined in a close flyby in January by NASA’s Stardust spacecraft, has towering protrusions and steep-walled craters that seem to defy gravity. More than a dozen jets of material shoot out from its insides. Dust swirls around the comet in unexpectedly dense pockets._