Newsletter Archive
Deep News
Newsletter for the Deep Impact mission
Issue 12
|
June 2004
|
The Deep Impact mission to make a deep crater in Comet Tempel 1 is nearing one year to encounter and the project team is
continuing testing of the spacecraft. If you want an overview of this spectacular mission, visit our web sites at:
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov
http://deepimpact.umd.edu
Picture This - How many pennies is that?
It's nearly the number of pennies it takes to match the mass of the copper portion of our impactor spacecraft. Why is a group of
students collecting them? Take a look and see.
http://deepimpact.umd.edu/gallery/pennies.html
Update on Deep Impact
Once the spacecraft is stacked together, all systems are tested to make sure that the spacecraft will survive in space and that both
impactor and flyby spacecraft will function properly. Monte Henderson tells us about the series of tests both spacecraft underwent
during May.
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/update-200406.cfm
Up Close and Personal - Meet Monte Henderson
He bikes up the mountains, skis down the slopes and does "dad things" with his kids. He grew up in the desert but wanted to be an
oceanographer. What led him to a job in aerospace? Fate - the industry needed people with active security clearance which Monte
had from a previous job.
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/bio-mhenderson.cfm
Questions from you - Will there be observations of the comet impact from Earth?
The most spectacular images will come from the flyby spacecraft. But many ground-based telescopes will be collecting data in the
optical and other wavelengths to complement the data from the flyby spacecraft. Details about the observing opportunities can be
found at
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/science/observations.cfm.
Update on Pennies for Space Education
Remember the class collecting pennies to match the weight of the copper content in our impactor spacecraft? Well, they met their
goal having drained the local bank of pennies. Visit
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/community/pennies.cfm
for an update. We'll get another report from Dee Mclellan as she takes the funds from the pennies to their sister school in the
Ukraine. Better take a traveler's check, Dee. Remember, only two carry-ons allowed.
Where is the Deep Impact team?
Aside from working long hours to get the mission ready for launch, many of the team also turned out at major events over the last
couple of months. Project team members at the University of Maryland hosted a Deep Impact exhibit at Maryland Day with
attendance at over 60,000. In mid-May, west coast project members hosted a Deep Impact exhibit at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Open House for over 35,000. Those visiting learned about comets, the Deep Impact mission and were able to see materials from
the construction of the spacecraft. In the words of attendees - "Wow!"
More about the Deep Impact community - Solar System Ambassadors carry comets to the masses.
Who are the Solar System Ambassadors? They are 374 men and women across the country who bring the excitement of NASA
space exploration to millions of people each year.
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/community/ambassadors.cfm
Comet Tempel 1's mass - How will we know?
How is the science team going to determine the mass of Comet Tempel 1? Ray Brown continues his article on the Deep Impact
science objectives by telling us what the scientists are planning to do in order to find the comet's mass. If you haven't read Ray's
earlier articles, go to
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/science/objectives-rbrown.cfm.
But if you are all caught up, then go straight to
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/science/objectives-rbrown3.cfm.
What a Dish!
Recently, members of our Deep Impact project visited the Deep Space Network at Goldstone in California. There they craned their
necks up at one of the 70-meter antennas that will receive the data from the moment of impact with Comet Tempel 1 and the
period immediately following.
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/tech/dsn.cfm
To learn more about the Deep Space Network, visit
http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn.
Did you see our past Deep News Issues?
Visit http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/newsletter/archive.cfm
to catch up on exciting past news from the Deep Impact mission.
The Deep Impact mission is a partnership among the University of Maryland (UMD), the California Institute of Technology's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp (BATC). Deep Impact is a NASA Discovery mission,
eighth in a series of low-cost, highly focused space science investigations. See
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov or our mirror site at
http://deepimpact.umd.edu.
Newsletter Archive
