Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Deep Impact Spacecraft Ready for Mission
AP ^ | July 1, 2005 | Alicia Chang

Posted on 07/01/2005 6:12:43 PM PDT by Righty_McRight

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - A NASA spacecraft was speedily closing in on its target Friday, a comet scientists hope to smash open this weekend, producing celestial fireworks for the Independence Day weekend.

But the real purpose is to study the comet's primordial core.

Mission scientists said the Deep Impact spacecraft was 1 1/2 million miles away from Tempel 1, a pickle-shaped comet half the size of Manhattan.

"We're closing in very rapidly, but we're still very far away," said Michael A'Hearn, an astronomer at the University of Maryland and principal investigator of the $333 million project.

The cosmic fireworks will not be visible to the naked eye. But skygazers with telescopes can view the collision 83 million miles up from parts of the Western Hemisphere - in the United States, west of a line from Chicago to Atlanta, around 2 a.m. EDT Monday if all goes as planned.

Launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., Deep Impact began a six-month, 268-million-mile voyage Jan. 12 toward Tempel 1. If all goes well, it will be the first time that scientists have ever peered into the heart of a comet.

The collision will not significantly alter the comet's path around the sun and scientists say the experiment poses no danger to Earth.

On Saturday, the spacecraft will spring free an 820-pound copper "impactor," which will begin a 500,000-mile dive toward the sunlit side of the comet. The impactor will have three chances to correct its flight path to ensure a collision, which is expected around 1:52 a.m. EDT Monday.

As the comet races toward it at 23,000 mph, the camera-equipped probe will shoot pictures as it awaits its fate.

Rick Grammier, project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said both the spacecraft and the impactor were operating normally Friday and he expects a successful mission.

Scientists expect the collision to blast a crater in the comet and hurl the pristine subsurface material out from the pit. Comets are considered remnants of the solar system's building blocks, and studying them could provide clues to how the sun and planets formed 4 1/2 billion years ago.

The 1,300-pound flyby spacecraft, carrying two cameras and an infrared spectrometer, will witness the impact from a distance of 5,000 miles. After the impact, the spacecraft will approach the comet, flying 310 miles beneath it, to get images of the aftermath.

Last month, the Deep Impact spacecraft detected the comet nucleus for the first time through a hazy cloud of dust and gas surrounding the icy body. The images taken from 20 million miles away should help the spacecraft zero in on its target.

Scientists also observed several short-lived outbursts of ice from Tempel 1 that dramatically brightened the comet. Many comets experience flare-ups although scientists are not exactly sure why. Grammier said the outbursts should have little impact on the spacecraft and probe.

---__

On the Net:

Deep Impact mission: http://www.nasa.gov/deepimpact


TOPICS: Government
KEYWORDS: comet; deepimpact; nasa; tempel1
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-33 next last

Rick Grammier, 2nd from left, project manager, speaks at a briefing on NASA's Deep Impact space mission Friday, July 1, 2005, as other members of the team listen, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Scientists are hoping to create their own fireworks in space this Independence Day weekend by having Deep Impact release a probe on a collision course to blast a hole in comet Tempel 1 about 83 million miles from Earth. Seated from left are, Lindley Johnson, program executive, Grammier, Monte Henderson, program manager, Dave Spencer, mission manager and Jessica Rocca, systems engineer. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

Monte Henderson, program manager with Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., speaks at a briefing on NASA's Deep Impact space mission Friday, July 1, 2005, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Scientists are hoping to create their own fireworks in space this Independence Day weekend by having Deep Impact release a probe on a collision course to blast a hole in comet Tempel 1 about 83 million miles from Earth. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

1 posted on 07/01/2005 6:12:43 PM PDT by Righty_McRight
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: pax_et_bonum

Pax-A-Tron, prepare for impact!


2 posted on 07/01/2005 6:14:00 PM PDT by Flyer (I'm looking for the FReeper that recommended Glory brand canned greens)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Righty_McRight

My family's name is on that rig!!!

Whooopiiieeee!!!!


3 posted on 07/01/2005 6:15:00 PM PDT by baltodog (R.I.P. Balto: 2001(?) - 2005)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Righty_McRight

Nasa Attacks Giant Pickle In Space


4 posted on 07/01/2005 6:15:15 PM PDT by cabojoe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Righty_McRight

Soo, are they going to load "DeepThroat" into the chamber and fire him off so he can be the "Deep Impact"? :P


5 posted on 07/01/2005 6:15:23 PM PDT by 1FASTGLOCK45 (FreeRepublic: More fun than watching Dem'Rats drown like Turkeys in the rain! ! !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Howlin

FYI.
t.


6 posted on 07/01/2005 6:19:24 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Righty_McRight

I came to this thread with the expectation the mission target,
after the recent election, was Tehran.


7 posted on 07/01/2005 6:21:02 PM PDT by C210N (-)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

NASA's last couple of Mars impacts were just practice, eh?


8 posted on 07/01/2005 6:26:01 PM PDT by solitas (So what if I support an OS that has fewer flaws than yours? 'Mystic' dual 500 G4's, OSX.4.1)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cabojoe

"Nasa Attacks Giant Pickle In Space"

hah hah hah. Imagine what their surprise is going to be when billions of HEINZ pickels go blasting off into space.


9 posted on 07/01/2005 6:38:51 PM PDT by Marine_Uncle (Honor must be earned)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Marine_Uncle

I just hope that they don't fire back.


10 posted on 07/01/2005 6:54:27 PM PDT by ARCADIA (Abuse of power comes as no surprise)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: ARCADIA

"I just hope that they don't fire back."

Who?. The pickels or aliens?


11 posted on 07/01/2005 7:09:11 PM PDT by Marine_Uncle (Honor must be earned)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Righty_McRight

I must admit that NASA has proven time and again that it is very good at blowing things up.


12 posted on 07/01/2005 7:09:40 PM PDT by KellyAdmirer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Righty_McRight
scientists say the experiment poses no danger to Earth.

Suddenly, I am very afraid.

13 posted on 07/01/2005 7:14:26 PM PDT by don-o (Don't be a Freeploader. Do the right thing and become a Monthly Donor!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Righty_McRight
a pickle-shaped comet half the size of Manhattan.

"Thats a dilly of a pickle" says Ned Flanders.

14 posted on 07/01/2005 7:14:28 PM PDT by operation clinton cleanup
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Righty_McRight; All

If anyone starts a ping list put me on.
Thanks Much


15 posted on 07/01/2005 7:17:06 PM PDT by DAVEY CROCKETT (Character exalts Liberty and Freedom, Righteous exalts a Nation.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Righty_McRight

Guide: How To See Nasa's Comet Crash in the Sky on July 4th:
http://www.physorg.com/news4814.html.com/


16 posted on 07/01/2005 7:23:25 PM PDT by cabojoe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Righty_McRight; Howlin

There will be a live thread starting Sunday.


17 posted on 07/01/2005 7:25:26 PM PDT by RightWhale (withdraw from the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DAVEY CROCKETT; Howlin

Just in case you don't get a ping, there will be a live thread Sunday.


18 posted on 07/01/2005 7:26:40 PM PDT by RightWhale (withdraw from the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: solitas

LOL!


19 posted on 07/01/2005 8:03:47 PM PDT by spinestein (The facts fairly and honestly presented, truth will take care of itself.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Flyer
Mission scientists said the Deep Impact spacecraft was 1 1/2 million miles away from Tempel 1, a pickle-shaped comet half the size of Manhattan.

Is the captain of the Comet Crasher aware of this situation?

20 posted on 07/02/2005 8:06:01 AM PDT by pax_et_bonum (Three guys walked into a bar. The fourth one ducked.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-33 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson