Deep Impact on track for the collision with Tempel 1
June 28th, 2005 Leave a comment Visited 92 times, 4 so far today
Deep Impact on track for the collision with Tempel 1
July 4 would see more than just the fireworks in the sky in the United States. NASA has destined their Deep Impact to hit the Tempel 1 on the independence day of the United States. The aim is to blast a hole inside the comet, which is around half the size of the Manhattan state. They would be hoping to get a closer look inside the surface of the comet to collect crucial data for studies.
Deep Impact spacecraft would be releasing a wine barrel-sized probe on a collision course towards the comet. The collision is expected to occur around 130 million km from the planet earth. Rick Grammier, project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena talks about this particular collision between a man made object and an heavenly body: “It’s a bullet trying to hit a second bullet with a third bullet in the right place at the right time.â€
NASA would be observing the collision from the Deep Impact craft along with a fleet of space-based observatories especially Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra. Of course, the earth-based telescopes would also be keeping a track of the collision. Scientists claim that the mission could help them answer basic questions about the solar system’s birth.
The space agency expects that the impact would be strong enough to carve out a hole that can range anywhere from the size of a house to a football stadium, and from two to 14 storey deep. They would have around 15 minutes to capture as much images and data as they can in that period.
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June 28th, 2005 at 1:48 pm
Lets hope that this impact gives us some great pictures.
June 28th, 2005 at 1:58 pm
I presume someone has checked to make sure that by hitting the comet it does not divert it towards earth !!!!
June 28th, 2005 at 2:15 pm
Itâ??ll surely be an ecstatic occasion !!!
Will light-works be visible ???
June 28th, 2005 at 2:16 pm
Itâ??ll surely be an ecstatic occasion !!!
Will light-works be visible ???
June 28th, 2005 at 2:23 pm
Manhattan state? Come on…JEEZ!!!
June 28th, 2005 at 7:11 pm
Is this really a good idea? Ecstatic occassion, I doubt it. 4th of july as the date, just another american show off stunt
June 30th, 2005 at 4:57 am
Isn’t this how a lot of apocolyptic sci-fi movies start? Sounds kewl though.