cool...
Posted on 06/10/2005 10:05:27 AM PDT by Redcitizen
NASA space probe to slam into comet July 4 By Deborah Zabarenko Thu Jun 9, 5:00 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NASA's Deep Impact probe is scheduled to lob a big copper "bullet" into a comet on July 4 to look into the heart of this remnant from the formation of our solar system, scientists said on Thursday.
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Impact is expected at 1:52 a.m. EDT (0552 GMT) on U.S. Independence Day.
About a day before the collision, the Deep Impact craft will send a 317-pound (144 kg) copper-fortified impactor toward comet Tempel 1, which will be about 83 million miles from Earth.
The impactor will steer itself toward the comet and the Deep Impact craft will pass about 310 miles away from it and watch the smash-up, the scientists said at a briefing.
Rick Grammier, the project manager for the mission, called this maneuver "extremely challenging."
"It's a bullet trying to hit a second bullet with a third bullet, in the right place at the right time, watching the first two bullets and gathering the scientific data from that impact," Grammier said.
The Deep Impact mission is designed to offer a look under the surface of a comet, where material from the solar system's formation remains relatively unchanged.
Astronomers do not know what kind of impact they will see when the impactor hits: the crater produced on the comet could range in size from a large house to the size of a football stadium. Either way, it will not appreciably change the comet's path.
The crash is expected to eject a spray of ice and dust from the comet's surface and reveal the material beneath it on this Manhattan-sized space rock. At that point, the Deep Impact craft will have about 13 minutes to capture images and data before it weathers what astronomers expect will be a blizzard of particles thrown out of the nucleus of the comet.
There are cameras aboard the impactor and the main craft, and the crash will also be observed by the Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra space telescopes in addition to telescopes on Earth.
Because scientists do not know how bright the impact will be, they can't say whether backyard astronomers will be able to see it. But those with the best chance are those in the western United States and possibly New Zealand.
More information and images are available online at http:/www.nasa.gov/deepimpact.
cool...
thankx...
So what you're saying is that there isn't a Snowball's chance in Hell. Copy that.
There's talk that it might reach 6th magnitude. For you non-astronomers, that's the faintest one can see in a very dark location. The comet is a few degrees from Spica (I remember that because Spica would have been a cal star in our abortive BDPR observation of DI), so finding it with a set of binoculars shouldn't be that difficult.
The best that we have had here the past few years is 4th mag. Of course, in the summer even the moon is hard to spot and that is -16th mag.
Yeah, but... If you have the technical ability to grab another comet and enough energy to redirect its trajectory to exactly where you want it to be so that it hits the first comet head-on, then you don't *need* the second comet, you can use the same tools to just redirect the first one away from an Earth-impact trajectory... ;-)
Funny thing about orbits. Unless they are parabolic or hyperbolic, which would be the case for an extra-solar comet, they go all the way around and come back again.
Darn that midnight Sun and Rayleigh scattering...
As long as it doesn't hit Uranus we should all be o.k.
When these things crash, I expect a liberal to stand up and demand a law for mandatory insurance on space vehicles.
Thanks.
Reminds me of Biiliards on a celestial scale.
Either way, it will not appreciably change the comet's path....
They say this with crossed fingers behind their backs at a news conference.
The Hills have Eyes...
The movies frequently do not bear any real resemblances to real life. You have made some good points. So how far out would we need to start in order to deflect a comet of the size that we are talking about?
I'd like to add that we probably do not have enough suitable nuclear weapons to use on a comet and our choice of delivery vehicles are limited.
Well we could start practicing by getting the borders secured?
I like science and fully support space projects. I want to get off this rock in a real live starship with a kickin hyperdrive,FTL,warp drive you name it and go places!
NASA to send celestial hammer to break open comet
EARTHTimes.org | 2004-12-20 | I. A. Harry
Posted on 12/23/2004 9:20:12 AM PST by Diamond
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1307359/posts
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