Mars robotic rovers and orbiters are set to have a front row seat for a comet that will be flying past the Red Planet

NASA scientists will be using various orbiters, rovers and satellites to study the Siding Spring comet as it makes a relatively close flyby past mars on Oct. 19.

Mars robotic rovers and orbiters are set to have a front row seat for a comet that will be flying past the Red Planet so close it will be less than one-tenth the distance of any known comet flyby of Earth.

NASA scientists are just trying to make sure it's not dangerously close.

What astronomers are describing as a "once-in-a-lifetime" comet flyby is expected to zoom within about 87,000 miles of Mars on Sunday, Oct. 19.

While that distance may seem large, it is less than half the distance between Earth and our moon.

The comet, known as C/2013 A1 or Siding Spring, should travel past Mars at approximately 126,000 mph with its nucleus coming closest to the planet at 2:27 p.m. ET, according to NASA. While the nucleus will miss the orbiters working around Mars, the comet will be shedding material as it goes by. That debris is expected to hurtle toward Mars at 35 miles per second.

NASA noted that at that velocity, even a particle only one-fiftieth of an inch across could cause significant damage to a spacecraft and could be disastrous for the Mars orbiters.

The Martian atmosphere, though thinner than that here on Earth, should protect the Mars rovers Curiosity and Opportunity from being damaged by any particles flying off the comet.

NASA now has three spacecraft -- the Mars Odyssey, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN orbiter -- working above the surface of Mars. And they won't have the protection the rovers do.

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NASA's orbiters, rovers prep for rare comet close-up