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NASA to Pierce a Comet with 'Deep Impact' |
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 01 July 2005 |
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US National Aeronautics and Space
Administration's (NASA) spacecraft "Deep Impact" is to tear off a flake
from the comet Tempel by firing a probe into the comet on July 4.
The
spacecraft will transmit the pictures of the hole to be opened. Through
this hole, it will be possible to probe into the core of the comet. The
first close examination of the mysterious comets will therefore have
been realized.
According to a NASA announcement, "Deep Impact", which was
launched from Florida Cape Canaveral base on a Delta 2 rocket in
January 2005, is to approach Tempel 1 between Jupiter and Mars, 132
million km away from the world, to fire a "copper projectile" into the
comet's heart. The distance between the sun and the earth is 150
million km. As with the landing of the spacecraft Pathfinder on Mars
eight years ago the firing of the probe will coincide with the 229th
Independence Day on July 4th. The spacecraft will fire the giant probe
that weighs 372 kg, is made of copper and as big as a washing machine
into the heart of the comet at a speed of 37,000 km/h.
NASA specialists conjecture that the impact of the
probe-projectile on the comet will be to open a hole with the
dimensions of a football stadium. The success rate of the collision is
calculated to be 99.9 percent. NASA's space telescopes orbiting the
world Hubble, Spitzer, Chandra and many observatories on the globe will
focus on the hole to be pierced on the Tempel 1. From the comet's core
the scientists will gather information about the formation of the solar
system. The camera installed on the projectile will transmit pictures
up to the instant of the collision to the Deep Impact passing by from a
distance of 500 km. These pictures will then be retransmitted to the
Earth. |
