They could be the watering holes and fuel stations for future interplanetary exploration.

We think Mars exploration is in our future. It may be a little ways out there possibly but that's the whole essence of being human is that we'd like to explore and Mars is something we have dreamed about and set our sights on.

Sometimes, when the fragments break off, they flare up temporarily, but it usually doesn't last very long.

It's not gonna knock your socks off, and it certainly won't be the brightest object in the sky, but it'll be easily observable with the naked eye .

It looks as though some of the fragments are themselves forming their own sub-fragments.

The spacecraft has to be smart enough on its own to observe the comet, determine whether it's headed in the right direction, if not, make its own course correction, and then fire its thrusters to achieve that course correction.