Transcript Deep Impact

First Look Inside a Comet…
Comets have inspired dread,
fear, and awe in many different
cultures & societies around the
world and throughout time.
Comets' movements have
always seemed very erratic and
unpredictable. This led people
in many ancient cultures to
believe that the gods dictated
their motions and were sending
them as a message.
Barrier Canyon style pictograph may depict
shaman shaking a snake to ward off danger
from approaching comets….Emery County, UT
Comets are time capsules that
hold clues about the formation and
evolution of the solar system.
They are composed of ice, gas and
dust, primitive debris from the
solar system’s distant and coldest
regions that formed 4.5 billion
years ago.
The Mission
Deep Impact, a NASA Discovery Mission (lower-cost, highly focused
scientific spacecraft), is the first space mission to probe beneath the
surface of a comet and reveal the secrets of it’s interior.
Mission Goal
“To study the pristine interior of a comet by excavating
a crater more than 25 m deep and 100 m in diameter. “
Project Partners
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ball Aerospace & Technologies
Corporation and University of Maryland
The Deep Impact Mission lasts 6 yrs. from
planning through launch to completion.
The launch date, formerly scheduled for
December 2004, occurred Jan. 12, 2005.
On July 4, 2005 the Deep
Impact spacecraft is
scheduled to arrive at
Comet Tempel 1 to first
collect images and then
impact the comet with a 370
kg. (~820 lbs.) mass.
Orbital plan for Deep Impact Mission
Comet Wild 2 from NASA Stardust spacecraft
Discovered in 1861, Comet Tempel 1 has made many passages
through the inner solar system orbiting the Sun every 5.5 yrs.
This makes it a good target to study evolutionary change in the
mantle, or upper crust.
Comet 9P/Tempel 1
The green grid
represents the
plane of the
earth's orbit and
all of the other
planets & objects
in the solar
system have
orbits that are
slightly inclined
to that plane.
Tempel 1's orbit
does not cross
the Earth's.
Tempel 1
Impactor
flyby
The impactor is a battery-powered “smart” spacecraft that operates
independently of the flyby spacecraft for just one day. After it’s release,
it takes over its own navigation and maneuvers into the path of the
comet. A camera captures and relays images of the nucleus of the
comet seconds before collision.
The impactor of the
Deep Impact
spacecraft,
suspended by an
overhead crane,
undergoes inspection
at Ball Aerospace in
Boulder, CO.
Fischer Assembly Building…
After releasing the impactor, the
flyby spacecraft maneuvers to a
new path that, at closest approach,
passes 500 km. (300 mi.) from the
comet. The flyby observes &
records the impact, the ejected
material blasted from the crater and
the structure and composition of
its interior.
flyby
Credit: NASA - Artist’s drawing…
The Deep Impact flyby spacecraft (upper L) shown as it records photos
and data after the impactor crashes onto the surface of Comet Tempel 1,
delivering 19 Gigajoules (that’s equivalent to 4.8 tons of TNT) of kinetic
energy to excavate the crater on July 4, 2005.
The High Resolution Instrument (HRI), designed and built by Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp. (Boulder, CO) is the main scientific
instrument on the flyby spacecraft. The HRI CCD camera will image
the comet impact site with less than 2 m (6 ft) per pixel scale when
the flyby spacecraft is 700 km (420 mi.) away.
Chandra X-Ray Telescrope…
W. M. Keck Observatory, Hawaii…
NASA's Hubble,
Spitzer and Chandra
space telescopes,
and others on Earth,
will also observe the
collision.
The Deep Impact spacecraft
lifted off from Kennedy Space
Center, FL on January 12, 2005
and is heading in space for it’s
rendezvous 83 million miles from
Earth with Comet Tempel 1.
Plan to be at the museum to view the Deep Impact collision
with Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005! Watch for details to
follow as the date approaches…