spacetoday.net: Workaround found for Deep Impact camera problem

Posted: Fri, Jun 10, 2005, 8:16 AM ET (1216 GMT)
Deep Impact spacecraft illustration (NASA/JPL)

Engineers will use software tools to compensate for a focus problem with the main camera on NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft, project officials said Thursday. The spacecraft, launched early this year, will fly past the comet Tempel 1 on July 4, deploying a probe that will smash into the comet's nucleus. Shortly after launch officials found that the spacecraft's camera was slightly out of focus, although still producing images within the science requirements of the mission. That focus problem has been linked to a mirror that deformed slightly in ground tests, causing camera designers to set the focus incorrectly on the camera. To correct the problem the project will use a mathematical technique called deconvolution, commonly used in image processing, to sharpen the images.