Deep Impact mission

The Deep Impact mission revealed many details of the properties of comet Tern-pel 1. The spacecraft arrived at comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005 to impact it with a 370 kg mass. The spacecraft was launched from Earth in January, 2004. The im-pactor was a battery powered spacecraft that operated only for one day. Images from the comet were obtained till few seconds before the collision. The closest approach of the main spacecraft to the comet was 500 km. The flyby spacecraft monitored the impact. 

Mission Deep Impact In July 2005, NASA steered a projectile, about 370 kg in weight, at the comet 9F/Tempel (dimensions 4x4x14km), in order to obtain more exact information on its structure and composition. The impact was visible from Earth the Rosetta spacecraft discussed above also sent pictures to Earth. The dust/ice ratio determined after the impact is very probably greater than unity, so that comets are probably icy dustballs rather than (as had previously been surmised) dirty snowballs . The density of the cometary nucleus, which seems to consist of porous material, is roughly equal to that of ice. The impact set free around 19 GJ of... 

This book is the first comprehensive overview of planet formation, in which astronomers, cosmochemists, and laboratory astrophysicists jointly discuss the latest insights from the Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes, new interferometers, space missions including Stardust and Deep Impact, and laboratory techniques. Following the evolution of solids from their genesis through protoplanetary disks to rocky planets, the book discusses in detail how the latest results from these disciplines fit into a coherent picture. This volume provides a clear introduction and valuable reference for students and researchers in astronomy, cosmochemistry, laboratory astrophysics, and planetary sciences. 

NASA s most recent comet missions are Deep Impact and Rosetta. Deep Impact was launched on January 12, 2005, with Comet Tempel 1 as its target. The spacecraft encountered Tempel 1 on July 3, 2005, at which time it released a 770-pound (350 kg) copper projectile at the comet. Cameras and spectrometers on the spacecraft photographed and collected samples of materials ejected from the comet nucleus and relayed that information to scientists on Earth. Rosetta was launched on March 2, 2004, with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as its target. The spacecraft will orbit the comet and make observations for about two years as the comet approaches the Sun. It will also release a small package of instruments that make the first-ever landing on the surface of a comet. 

A more recent mission, Deep Impact (2005), was designed to understand the Comet Tempel 1, by impacting it with a 370-kg mass Impactor and collect/analyze the Comet dust. The Impactor, also equipped with its own scientific equipment, was successfully powered by Li-SOCI2 batteries for one day, for navigation and science and communication, prior to the impact. The batteries were made by SAFT with 216 D-cells (9S24P) housed within a single mechanically and thermally coupled aluminum structure. 

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