Deep Impact scores a bullseye
Posted: Mon, Jul 4, 2005, 11:27 AM ET (1527 GMT)
A probe from NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft collided with the nucleus of comet Tempel 1 early Monday as scientists declared the mission a "smashing success". The prove. which deployed from the main spacecraft early Sunday, hit the nucleus at 1:52 am EDT (0552 GMT). Cameras on the probe returned images of ever-increasing detail of the nucleus' surface as it approached, revealing craters, ridges, and other features. The impact itself created a brilliant plume of material, far more prominent that scientists predicted, that was clearly seen by the main spacecraft as it flew past the comet. A handful of images and other data were returned by the spacecraft, with the rest to be downlinked in the days to come.
A probe from NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft collided with the nucleus of comet Tempel 1 early Monday as scientists declared the mission a "smashing success". The prove. which deployed from the main spacecraft early Sunday, hit the nucleus at 1:52 am EDT (0552 GMT). Cameras on the probe returned images of ever-increasing detail of the nucleus' surface as it approached, revealing craters, ridges, and other features. The impact itself created a brilliant plume of material, far more prominent that scientists predicted, that was clearly seen by the main spacecraft as it flew past the comet. A handful of images and other data were returned by the spacecraft, with the rest to be downlinked in the days to come.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Friday, May 15
‘Space is hard’: Blue Origin’s satellite miss and the race to catch SpaceX
Seattle Times — 6:52 am ET (1052 GMT) ASCEND 2026 Puts “Need for Speed” at the Center of National Security Space
Aerospace America — 6:51 am ET (1051 GMT) TransAstra and U.S. Air Force Academy Sign Agreement to Advance Asteroid Mining for Dynamic Space Operations
AccessWire — 6:51 am ET (1051 GMT) U.S. Space Force reorganizes, pauses commercial accelerator program
Aerospace America — 6:50 am ET (1050 GMT) Elon Musk’s iron grip on SpaceX alarms investors
The Daily Telegraph — 6:48 am ET (1048 GMT) |
