Deep Impact
Sign in to saveAlso known as Deep Impact Flyby
NASA space probe launched in 2005 to study comet Tempel 1
Key facts
- Mission type
- Flyby/impactor ( 9P/Tempel )
- Operator
- NASA · JPL
- Cospar id
- 2005-001A
- Website
- www .jpl .nasa .gov /missions /deep-impact /
- Mission duration
- Final: 8 years, 6 months, 26 days
- Manufacturer
- Ball Aerospace · University of Maryland
- Launch mass
- Total: 973 kg , Spacecraft: 601 kg (1,325 lb) , Impactor: 372 kg (820 lb)
- Dry mass
- Total: 879 kg , Spacecraft: 515 kg (1,135 lb) , Impactor: 364 kg (802 lb)
- Dimensions
- 3.3 × 1.7 × 2.3 m (10.8 × 5.6 × 7.5 ft)
- Power
- 92 W ( solar array / NiH 2 battery )
- Launch date
- January 12, 2005, 18:47:08 ( 2005-01-12UTC18:47:08 ) UTC
- Rocket
- Delta II 7925 / PAM-D
- Launch site
- Cape Canaveral SLC-17B
- Contractor
- Boeing
- Disposal
- Contact lost
- Last contact
- August 8, 2013 ( 2013-08-09 )
- Closest approach
- July 4, 2005, 06:05 UTC
- Distance
- 575 km (357 mi)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Mass
- 515
- Official website
- www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/deepimpact/main/index.html
- Image
- Deep Impact.jpg
- Height
- 2.3
- Width
- 1.7
- Length
- 3.3
Show 4 more facts
- Commons category
- Deep Impact
- UTC date of spacecraft launch
- 2005-01-12
- Commons gallery
- Deep Impact (space mission)
- capital cost
- 267000000
Sources (12)
via Wikidata · CC0
~30 min read
Article
Deep Impact was a NASA space probe launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on January 12, 2005. It was designed to study the interior composition of the comet Tempel 1 (9P/Tempel), by releasing an impactor into the comet. At 05:52 UTC on July 4, 2005, the Impactor successfully collided with the comet's nucleus. The impact excavated debris from the interior of the nucleus, forming an impact crater. Photographs taken by the spacecraft showed the comet to be more dusty and less icy than had been expected. The impact generated an unexpectedly large and bright dust cloud, obscuring the view of the impact crater.
Previous space missions to comets, such as Giotto, Deep Space 1, and Stardust, were fly-by missions. These missions were able to photograph and examine only the surfaces of cometary nuclei, and even then from considerable distances. The Deep Impact mission was the first to eject material from a comet's surface, and the mission garnered considerable publicity from the media, international scientists, and amateur astronomers alike.