Deep Impact

[andrsn]

For anyone interested, Deep Impact is a mission I worked on with the University of Maryland and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratories a few years ago. I was working for Ball Aerospace at the time, but none the less, this two part satellite is expected to impact with its target, Comet Temple 1, on July 4th this year.

A good friend made me realize it might be worth sharing with all of you since it's quite a high-profile project with the public.

If something goes wrong, remember, I had nothing to do with it! :blackeye

Here it is: Deep Impact

Later,
Anderson

 

[Alison]

Awsome! I'm interested, my dads a physicist and is crazy about this mission, well any mission really, I thought he was going to have a heart attack a few years ago when they re-mapped the temperature of the cosmos rofl well he said it was significant enough to get exited about???
So how many people are going to join me in a death defying crash on July 4th?

 

[Longfins]

You mean NASA is trying to crash something on purpose? Finally, a little truth in advertising!

23,000 mph impact velocity, with NASA at the helm, what can possibly go wrong?

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

Peter S.
(ex-NASA contractor)

 

[cdavis]

Does anybody know if this impact will be visible without a telescope? Its 2 am for me, but would be worth a look.

Connor

 

[Alison]

Heres a quote from the deep impact website

In July of 2005, the Deep Impact spacecraft will release a small, 370 kg (820 lb) Impactor directly into the path of comet Tempel 1 (estimated to be 14 km X 4 km X 4km /9 miles X 2 miles X 2 miles in size). With a closing speed of about 10.2 km/sec (22,800 miles/hour), the resulting collision is expected to produce a small impact crater on the surface of the comet's nucleus. It should be a few hundred meters in diameter and will take a few minutes to form. The crater and its corresponding ejecta curtain (the material thrown out of the forming crater) will be observed in detail by the flyby spacecraft for a period of about 13 1/3 minutes as the comet nucleus approaches. The comet will come approximately within 500 km (310 miles) of the spacecraft.

The flyby spacecraft carries two instruments for observing the impact and its effects within visible light wavelengths. There is a Medium Resolution Instrument (MRI), which produces "the big picture" of the comet and has a field of view of 0.587 degrees or about the diameter of the moon as seen from Earth. It will have a maximum predicted resolution of about 10 meters/pixel.

I would imagine that Temple 1 is outside the moons orbit, so I guess not I doubt it could be seen from earth even with a high resoloution telescope because the crater would only be a fraction of an arc second across and the earths atmosphere would not let that sort of detail through optically
Of course thats just a guess I have been known to be wrong (very frequently rofl)

 

[Alison]

OK In perspective, here's an image taken from earth through a 14" telescope (very big by amateur standards)

 

[Dobs]

I've red in an article somewhere that the impact will be visible to the naked eye in some parts of the western hemisphere. If this is true it would be the greatest Independence Day fireworks ever, don’t you think? :friday

 

[Alison]

Well apparently you might actually be able to see a change in the cometes brightness after impact: http://deepimpact.umd.edu/amateur/beginner/sec2.shtml

What will Tempel 1 look like?

Tempel 1 is not a very bright comet. At a normal perihelion, it typically reaches about magnitude 9. So in the days before the Deep Impact impactor hits Tempel 1, this comet will indeed be a very faint fuzzy visible mainly with telescopes. After the impact, there are different thoughts as to how bright the comet will become. It's not the brightness from the explosion but rather from the increased amount of gas and dust thrown into the comet's coma by the impact. If lots of dust is released then the comet could get quite bright, possibly as bright as magnitude 5, which believe it or not, is still a faint fuzzy, but bright enough to be seen with binoculars. We really won't know until it happens!

So if you know exactly where to look in the sky you might actually see it

 

[Adrian]

Magnitude 5 or six objects are very faint to the naked eye unless you have very clear and dark skies and no moon.

Adrian

 

[andrsn]

One of my friends still working there told me that we might be able to see it if we run up into the mountains. I think it's supposed to be low on the horizon.

Thanks for the info, Alison.

A

 

[Alison]

3 Days to go Am I the only one with my name on the space craft? Please dont let me crash alone :waterwork

 

[andrsn]

Wow, it actually worked!

A

 

[Erik]

Outstanding! I saw an engineer on TV stating that this operation was like 'trying to shoot a bullet with a bullet, while riding a bullet' !!
I think the mathematicians have to be proud of that one :king
Peace,
Erik Y.

 

[Alison]

Touch down!
Im now officially out of this world

 

[Oldsarge]

Bullseye! Now that's what I call shootin'!

 

[bdurrett]

As soon as the PR gonks release some of our photos, I will see what I can get hold of and post. We (or rather our Rosetta spacecraft) had a ring-side seat at "only" 88 million kliometers away from the impact....

It does give us an awful lot of data to sift through before we try to land on one in about 6 years.....

Bret

 

[andrsn]

Good to hear from you Bret.

A

 

[crusty]

I heard on the Radio today that some fruitloop somewhere ( USA maybe)
is trying to sue Nassa because the impact through her Astrology chart out.
Maybe they can do it again but this time strap her on the pointy end


Crusty

 

[roy_nexus_6]

the "fruitloop" is an "Astrologist" from Russia.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/07/04/astroaction.shtml

Looks like no one has a monopoly on kooks, not even Australia.

 

[Oldsarge]

What? Not a Californian? Oh, the shame of it all! Out-goofied by a mere Russian. I hide my face, I tear my shirt . . .