NASA to send celestial hammer to break open comet

EARTHTimes.org ^ | 2004-12-20 | I. A. Harry

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NASA to send celestial hammer to break open comet

Posted on : 2004-12-20| Author : I. A. Harry| News Category : Space

Scientific curiosity is going to cause a minor collision in space. On January 12, 2004, NASA is scheduled to launch a spacecraft named Deep Impact. This spacecraft will fire an 800-pound impactor right into the path of the 4-mile wide comet Tempel 1. The collision is scheduled to take place on July 4, 2005. The mission is stated to cost approximately $ 330 million.

Scientists at NASA are very eager to know what happens after the impact. According to a senior official associated with the project, the impact, they hope, will put an end to all the speculation about the interiors of comets. How comets are formed and what is their mineral composition.

The scientific community have long been interested in knowing what lies beneath the surface of any comet. They say it will help prove or disprove theories about how our planet was formed. Some scientists believe that comets are leftovers that remain after the solar system was formed. There are some who say that comets are made up of agglomerating dirty chunks of water ice.

At the time of the collision, the comet Tempel 1 will be close enough for astronomers to monitor what happens. The debris that will be kicked up will reveal, for the very first time, just what a comet is made of.

A member of the mission management team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory says that this collision is the astronomical equivalent of “tapping something with a hammer to find out what lies beneath its surface”, a practice common among geologists.

He said “The difference is - we're going to tap it with an 800-pound hammer."

He said that this collision will provide a better understanding of comets than the previous opportunity they had when NASA’s craft Stardust photographed the Comet Wild 2 at very close range. Those photographs only whetted the scientific curiosity of wanting to know what lies underneath a comet’s surface.

The mission management team is not sure what they hope or expect to find. Within the team there is already much speculation and even friendly betting. Most are in favor of finding chunks of water ice. One team member said that if that is the case, then they expect a large crater caused by the impact, roughly the size of a football stadium.

Another team member speculated that the comet is more porous and fragile than is believed.

The collision between the projectile and the comet, at a speed of 22,000 mph, will take place 83 million miles away from Earth.

[orionblamblam]

> How fast will that measly 800 pound kinetic impactor be travelling when it hits the comet?

Relative to what?

> I would be very surprised to learn that they have calculated the trajectories of the pieces that break off.

I wouldn't. The 800 pound hammer with transfer it's kinetic energy to the comet; much of that energy will be converted to heat. As for the rest, it might blow a few fridge-sized chunks off at a few hundred feet per second.

[TigersEye]

If comets do turn out to be space ships of highly advanced beings then we're in deep shiite.

[Bikers4Bush]

"The debris that will be kicked up will reveal, for the very first time, just what a comet is made of."

Rocks and dust, now give me the $330 million they were going to spend.

[GreenHornet]

The mission management team is not sure what they hope or expect to find. Within the team there is already much speculation and even friendly betting. Most are in favor of finding chunks of water ice.

If they are interested in finding water ice, there's plenty of places in South Philly where it can be found.....and it won't cost $330 million.

[myheroesareDeadandRegistered]

"If comets do turn out to be space ships of highly advanced beings then we're in deep shiite."

I was thinking the same exact thing.....Our NASA hammer goes off and then the next thing you know a pulsing death beam expands the Gulf coast clean up to Dallas. That would suck.

[johniegrad]

Maybe I was tipped off by your screen name but do you ever think you spend a little too much time here?

[Cboldt]

How fast will that measly 800 pound kinetic impactor be travelling when it hits the comet? The article doesn't say ...

I'm not sure what the 22,000 MPH reference is to, but it could be referring to the closing speed just before the impact. The last sentence of the article says,

The collision between the projectile and the comet, at a speed of 22,000 mph, will take place 83 million miles away from Earth.

Man, 800 LBS at 32,000 feet per second .. that is one whopper of a projectile!

[TigersEye]

That would suck.

Big time.

There are more mundane possibilities. The interior might be a huge hollow nichol ball. Hitting it at high speed with an 800 lb hammer will produce sonic reverberations that will permanently deafen every creature on the planet with ears.

Even that scenario might include aliens though. To them it might be a dinner bell.

[biblewonk]

Makes me yack.

[TalBlack]

"I would be very surprised to learn that they have calculated the trajectories of the pieces that break off."

In all honesty, and maybe I'm naive, but i'd be amazed if they didn't try to calculate the effect of their "celestial hammer". Did you mean that such a calculation is beyond mans ability?

[ChadGore]

Re: 800 LBS at 32,000 feet per second .. that is one whopper of a projectile!

Point this thing @ Mosul !

[r9etb]

How fast will that measly 800 pound kinetic impactor be travelling when it hits the comet?

Article says it'll hit at 22,000 mph. If you consider that a very small paint chip once put a noticeable ding in a Space Shuttle window, I'd say this little guy is gonna blow the comet to smithereens.

[Boiling point]

Hell, that's only about the weight of a big block car engine, and much less mass than say, an air liner crash, I don't think it will be very significant.

[snopercod]

[Squawk 8888]

So when does Greenpeace plan to launch a "save the comet" campaign?

[Squawk 8888]

((((.))))

[Judith Anne]

I really liked that movie! ;-D

[Aeronaut]

Possible interest ping...

[HairOfTheDog]

This is great; Let's SEE WHAT HAPPENS if we hit a 4 mile wide comet with a big bomb!

Guys with cool jobs...

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Scientists at NASA are very eager to know what happens after the impact.

In The Douglas Adams Universe, one of the pieces is placed on a new trajectory after the cleaving and heads straight for Earth, impacting it and snuffing out all life on the planet.

If the Dolphins hadn't already left, I'm sure their last message would be "So long and thanks for all the fish."