The Deep Impact probe hit comet Tempel 1 yesterday at a collision speed of about 23,000 miles per hour.
“You can not help but get a big flash when objects meet at 23,000 miles per hour,” said Deep Impact co-investigator Dr. Pete Schultz of Brown University. “Essentially, we generated our own incandescent photo flash for less than a second.”
According to NASA, the Deep Impact probe, which successfully hit its target, managed a few surprises for the team controlling the mission at Jet Propulsion Laboratories. One surprise was the bright flash. “The heat produced by impact was at least several thousand degrees Kelvin and at that extreme temperature just about any material begins to glow,” said Dr. Schultz.
Another surprise was a close-up shot of the comet that yielded details of surface features measuring about 13 feet across. A final image taken by the impactor probe from a distance of nearly 19 miles away, three seconds before impact, gave scientists a little bonus.
“When I signed on for this mission I wanted to get a close-up look at a comet, but this is ridiculous in a great way,” said Deep Impact Principal Investigator Dr. Michael A’Hearn.
The Deep Impact mission was implemented to provide a glimpse beneath the surface of a comet, where material from the solar system’s formation remains relatively unchanged. Mission scientists hoped the project would answer basic questions about how the solar system formed, by providing an in-depth picture of the nature and composition of comets.
The probe started its final phase a bit off course when its flight program made its first rocket firing. Scientists on Earth found that the maneuver was moving the probe away from the comet.
“This was not unexpected but at the same time not something we hoped to see. But then the second and third maneuvers put us right where we wanted to be,” said Deep Impact navigator Shyam Bhaskaran.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
