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National Aeronautics and Space Administration John F. Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899 FOR RELEASE: 12/14/2004 VIDEO NO: KSC-04-S-00391 CAPTIONED IN: ENGLISH |
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NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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| NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft will blast into space on a precisely navigated collision course for impact on July 4, 2005 with Comet Tempel 1. The two-part spacecraft will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station mated to a Boeing Delta II rocket.
One part of the Deep Impact spacecraft is a flyby observer loaded with cameras and sensors that will take images of the impact, the crater and the debris from the crater. Six months after launch the impactor section will be released and hurled into space on its 24 -hour, one-way journey towards the comet. At its closest distance, the flyby spacecraft maneuvers to a path as close as 300 miles from the comet that's traveling at an incredible speed of 23,000 miles per hour. Deep Impact's copper-nosed, self-directed impactor will be transmitting visible images of the comet until the final moment of impact. The collision could result in a crater as much as 14 stories deep and send up an enormous shower of comet fragments as the comet slams into the impactor. As Tempel 1 streaks by, the flyby spacecraft, guided through a cloud of dust and debris will record the event. Deep Impact will immediately transmit the images to NASA's Deep Space Network antennas on Earth. Data gathered from this extraordinary NASA mission could begin to answer many questions about comets and their role in the history of our Solar System. | |
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