Deep Impact hits comet. (1 Viewer)

[Rafy]

The mission was sucsessful.

Space probe hits comet head-on
July 4, 2005 - 4:06PM

A US space projectile has collided head-on with a comet hurtling through the solar system as part of an experiment to study its core, NASA officials said today.

``That's awesome! That's awesome!'' flight control officials shouted after the impact was confirmed. ``We hit just exactly where we wanted to.''

The collision is expected to gouge a large crater on the surface of the comet, sending up a cloud of ice, dust and debris that researchers hope will offer valuable information.

A separate fly-by probe was to take images of the collision and the resulting cloud, which scientists believe could be swallowed by a blizzard of particles from the comet nucleus.

NASA scientists early today fired the Deep Impact probe toward the comet Tempel 1, hoping to gain a unique glimpse beneath the surface of the comet and to gain new clues about the origins of the solar system.

The impact happened around 4pm AEST.

Although there are faint similarities with the 1998 movie Deep Impact, in which a US spaceship attacks an errant comet with nuclear weapons to ward off its collision with Earth, the probe hurtling toward comet Tempel 1 was launched purely in pursuit of scientific goals, space officials said.
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"The impact simply will not appreciably modify the comet's orbital path," Don Yeomans, a mission scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told reporters.

"Comet Tempel 1 poses no threat to the Earth now or in the foreseeable future," he said.

In the $US333 million ($436.55 million) cosmic sniper shot, both the target and the projectile move at least 20 times faster than bullets.

The probe, the size of an oil drum, was fired by US spacecraft Deep Impact that had undertaken a 172-day, 431-million-kilometre journey to get closer to the comet.

Twelve minutes after the release, a camera-equipped probe began peeling off from the projectile and set on a separate path that will get it as close as 500 kilometres to Tempel 1 shortly after the copper-laden Impactor slams into it.

Radio contact between the two craft has been confirmed, according to JPL officials.

Mission Control will spend most of the upcoming 24 hours guiding the Impactor towards its target.

But two hours before the anticipated collision, the kamikaze probe will fire up its own navigational system and use thrusters to manoeuvre itself.

It will most likely gouge a large crater on the surface of the comet, sending up a cloud of ice, dust and debris that researchers hope will offer a load of valuable information.

That is when the fly-by probe will swing into action. It will have approximately 13 minutes to take infrared and other images of the collision and the resulting cloud before it is swallowed by a potential blizzard of particles from the nucleus of the comet.

Images will also be snapped and beamed back to the mother spaceship by the Impactor in the final minutes of its life, allowing a glimpse into a cloud of gases and dust constantly enveloping Tempel 1.

Deep Impact is equipped with four data collectors, but will be backed up by other spaceborne platforms, including the US Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, Chandra X-ray observatory and European spacecraft.

Comets circling the sun, which are numbered in billions, are believed to be leftovers from a massive cloud of gas and dust that condensed to form the sun and planets about 4.6 billion years ago.

Therefore, their geological and chemical structure may contain important clues to the nature of the Universe.

AFP

 

[jase_]

Just finished watching the NASA TV internet coverage. Looked pretty cool!

 

[SashatheMan]

Just finished watching the NASA TV internet coverage. Looked pretty cool!

'

what was visible? it will prob be on the news. so ill watch it then

 

[Rafy]

EDIT: can the [ img] tags be enabled in this forum? No reason why they shouldnt be....

 

[SashatheMan]

EDIT: can the [ img] tags be enabled in this forum? No reason why they shouldnt be....

yeh image tag on please.

and cool image

 

[fashionista]

i think it's amazing they even hit the asteroid. granted the launch was 6 months ago. very impressive.



p.s. it's so cute when all the nasa guys start clapping and cheering tee hee

 

[Meldrum]

Yeah, it was in June's Time magazine. Great mission. So very creative.

 

[Seraph]

im so happy we stopped the comet!!

its times like this you learn to love yourself just a little bit...

 

[rama_v]

im so happy we stopped the comet!!

its times like this you learn to love yourself just a little bit...

What? The comet wasnt even headed towards earth lol

A tremendous achievement though, the pictures are amazing

 

[gordo]

it was to smash out some of the insides of the comet and analyse them

since most comets are just clumps of matter that have pretty much been around since the universe began, so it givs insight into the beginnings of the universe

it wasn't to stop an armageddon,

although apparently they also used the information to see how soft the inside of the comet was and to do preliminary calculations incase a bigger one comes.


lets hope it wasn't some sort of trial because nasa knows a big mofo is coming in 30 years

 

[Vangineer]

interesting YES,

but what a waste of money to destroy such high tech equipment. Money should be donated towards the poverty thingo instead

 

[rama_v]

interesting YES,

but what a waste of money to destroy such high tech equipment. Money should be donated towards the poverty thingo instead

Perhaps, but dont foget that the space shuttle missions, the moon landing etc. all helped to further technology - without them we would not have some of the modern marvels today we take for granted. At the very least these space missions accelerate technological devlopment and increase understanding about our universe.

 

[Rafy]

im so happy we stopped the comet!!

its times like this you learn to love yourself just a little bit...

You know, If a comet/asteroid was on a collision course with earth this is the precise way i'd stop it. Disguise the mission as having scientific purposes to prevent worldwide panic. The people dont need to know untill after the threat has been removed

 

[withoutaface]

Problem is, beauracracy leaks like a sieve, and there'd be astronomers outside of NASA that would probably notice it too.

 

[SashatheMan]

interesting YES,

but what a waste of money to destroy such high tech equipment. Money should be donated towards the poverty thingo instead

sell your house and all your possessions and donate them to poverty. not everything should be spent on charity. money is spent on research and development aswell, which is helpful for humanity in other ways.

it wasnt a waste of money.