National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, California

Making a Deep Impact

The Mission
On the evening of July 3, 2005, Deep Impact, Upon impact, there was a brilliant and rapid
a NASA Discovery Mission, performed an release of dust that momentarily saturated
incredibly complex experiment in space to the cameras onboard the spacecraft.
probe beneath the surface of a comet and Audiences around the world watched as
reveal the secrets of its interior. As a larger dramatic images were returned in near real
“flyby” spacecraft released a smaller time on NASA TV and over the Internet. All
“impactor” spacecraft into the path of comet available orbiting telescopes watched from
Tempel 1, the experiment became one of a space, including the Spitzer, Hubble and
cometary bullet chasing down a spacecraft Chandra telescopes. A number of
bullet while a third spacecraft bullet sped Earthbound astronomers at larger and
along to watch. smaller telescopes positioned their
The Result instruments and succeeded in capturing a
Deep Impact's collision with comet Tempel 1 wide-field view of the impact. Although the
was a spectacular success! The impactor hit comet brightened upon impact, it wasn’t
the comet on the sunlit side as planned. observable with the unaided eye at Earth.
The amount and brightness of the released years. This made Tempel 1 a good target to
debris indicates that beneath the surface of the study evolutionary change in the mantle, or
comet, there is microscopic dust; water and upper crust. Scientists are eager to learn
carbon dioxide ice; and hydrocarbons. whether a) comets exhaust their supply of
Signatures of these species were seen in gas and dust to space or b) seal it into their
spectra immediately after impact. New interiors. They would also like to learn about
information since encounter tells us that the the structure of a comet's interior and how it
forces holding the comet together are is different from its surface. The controlled
gravitational forces, and the comet is extremely cratering experiment of this mission is already
weak—weaker than snow. providing answers to these questions.
The Experiment in Review Technical Implementation
In early July, twenty-four hours before impact, The flyby spacecraft used an X-band radio
the observing flyby spacecraft pointed high- antenna to communicate to Earth as it also
precision tracking telescopes at the comet. listened to the impactor on a different
After releasing the impactor spacecraft, the frequency. (For most of the mission, the flyby
flyby spacecraft maneuvered to a safe point to spacecraft communicates through the 34-
watch the collision. During impact, the flyby meter antennas of NASA's Deep Space
spacecraft used its instruments to perform Network.) During the short period of
optical imaging and infrared spectral mapping encounter and impact, when there is an
of the comet and the ejected material blasted increase in volume of data, overlapping
into space. The impactor, a battery-powered antennas around the world were used.
spacecraft that operated independently of the Primary data was transmitted immediately
flyby spacecraft for just one day, took over its and other data was transmitted over the
own navigation and maneuvered into the path following week. The impactor spacecraft was
of the comet. A camera on the impactor composed mainly of copper, which is not
captured and relayed images of the comet's expected to appear in data from a comet's
nucleus until just seconds before the collision. composition. For its short period of operation,
the impactor used simpler versions of the
The impact, while powerful, was not forceful
flyby spacecraft's hardware and software.
enough to make an appreciable change in the
The spacecraft is currently in sleep mode
comet's orbital path around the Sun. Ice,
awaiting a possible wake up call for further
heated by the energy of the impact, vaporized
scientific investigations.
and dust debris was ejected from the crater.
Members of the science team are still at work The Team
studying data to define the resulting crater and The scientific leadership for the mission is
the ejecta. Sunlight reflecting off the ejected based at the University of Maryland.
material provided a dramatic brightening that Engineers at Ball Aerospace and
faded as the debris dissipated into space or fell Technologies Corp designed and built the
back onto the comet. After its shields protected spacecraft under the management of Jet
it from the comet's dust tail, the flyby spacecraft Propulsion Laboratory. The spacecraft
turned to record the brilliant change in the launched on a Boeing Delta II rocket from
comet’s activity as it departed. At the same Cape Canaveral on January 12, 2005 under
time, results of the impact and aftermath the supervision of Kennedy Space Center.
observed by professional and amateur Engineers at JPL controlled the spacecraft
astronomers at large and smaller telescopes on after launch and relayed data to scientists for
Earth were broadcast on NASA TV and over analysis. The entire team consists of more
the Internet. Results from this and other comet than 250 scientists, managers and engineers.
missions will lead to a better understanding of Deep Impact is a NASA Discovery Mission,
both the solar system's formation and eighth in a series of low-cost, highly focused
implications of comets colliding with Earth. space science investigations. The mission
offers an extensive outreach program in
Comet Tempel 1
partnership with other comet and asteroid
Comets are composed of ice, gas and dust and
missions and institutions to benefit the public,
are considered time capsules that hold clues
educational and scientific communities.
about the formation and evolution of the solar
system 4.5 billion years ago. Comet Tempel 1
was discovered in 1867 by Ernst Tempel. The http://www.nasa.gov
comet has made many passages through the http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov
http://deepimpact.umd.edu
inner solar system orbiting the Sun every 5.5
JPL 400-936 7/05