true masked wabbit
eagle averro
NASA/JPL
(ref: July 4,2005)
While NASA and JPL are reporting to the world and its amazing Deep Impact historical events we in BPE marked our own milestone yet again in historical events together. But nothing could compare to the Leonids Meteors or the comets watch to witnessing Deep Impact last night.
The closer the time table approached to the actual impact itself the more concentrated the room became in gladly giving out information as to the size of the impactor (the size of a coffee table) the speed it was travelling (at 15,000mph) and of course posting links to direct tv coverage from NASA headquarters to those who came in and asked for info and links. Theories were discussed of what possibly could the meteor consist of. Some were reassured that nothing from the impact itself would ever reach earth since Temple 1, the meteor is an amazing 83 million miles away. Others who had telescopes would ask for directions in which way to point their telescope which was gladly replied with towards Spica in Orion the Hunter. Eagle averro multitasking posting images as they came in for those who could not connect to direct NASA tv or have a satellite dish to pick up the event on their television set.
All in all it showed us yet again that BPE is in fact the best. We may debate, theorize, argue (sometimes heatedly) but all in all it shows time and time again when it comes to pure science such as a new event marking the milestones in history, we pull together in unison with one common denominator, science.
Here are the detailed information from NASA/JPL
From NASA: Deep Impact Kicks off Fourth of July With Deep Space Fireworks
After 172 days and 431 million kilometers (268 million miles) of deep space stalking, Deep Impact successfully reached out and touched comet Tempel 1. The collision between the coffee table-sized impactor and city-sized comet occurred at 1:52 a.m. EDT.
“What a way to kick off America's Independence Day," said Deep Impact ProjectManager Rick Grammier of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The challenges of this mission and teamwork that went into making it a success, should makeall of us very proud.""This mission is truly a smashing success," said Andy Dantzler, director of NASA's Solar System Division. "Tomorrow and in the days ahead we will know a lot more about the origins of our solar system."Official word of the impact came 5 minutes after impact. At 1:57 a.m. EDT, an imagefrom the spacecraft's medium resolution camera downlinked to the computer screensof the mission's science team showed the tell-tale signs of a high-speed impact."The image clearly shows a spectacular impact," said Deep Impact principal investigatorDr. Michael A'Hearn of the University of Maryland, College Park. "With this muchdata we have a long night ahead of us, but that is what we were hoping for. There is so much here it is difficult to know where to begin."The celestial collision and ensuing data collection by the nearby Deep Impact mothershipwas the climax of a very active 24 hour period for the mission which began with impactor release at 2:07 a.m. EDT on July 3. Deep space maneuvers by the flyby, final checkout of both spacecraft and comet imaging took up most of the next 22 hours. Then, the impactor got down to its last two hours of life.
"The impactor kicked into its autonomous navigation mode right on time," said DeepImpact navigator Shyam Bhaskaran, of JPL. "Our preliminary analysis indicates the three impactor targeting maneuvers occurred on time at 90, 35 and 12.5 minutes before impact."At the moment the impactor was vaporizing itself in its 10 kilometers per second (6.3 miles per second) collision with comet Tempel 1, the Deep Impact flyby spacecraft was monitoring events from nearby. For the following14 minutes the flyby collected anddownlinked data as the comet loomed ever closer. Then, as expected at 2:05 a.m. EDT, the flyby stopped collecting data and entered a defensive posture called shield mode where its dust shields protect the spacecraft's vital components during its closestpassage through the comet's inner coma. Shield mode ended at 2:32 a.m. EDT when mission control re-established the link with the flyby spacecraft.
“The flyby surviving closest approach and shield mode has put the cap on an outstandingday," said Grammier. "Soon, we will begin the process of downlinking all the encounter information in one batch and hand it to the science team."The goal of the Deep Impact mission is to provide a glimpse beneath the surface of a comet, where material from the solar system's formation remains relatively unchanged.Mission scientists expect the project will answer basic questions about the formation of the solar system, by offering a better look at the nature and composition of the frozen celestial travelers known as comets.The University of Maryland is responsible for overall Deep Impact mission science, andproject management is handled by JPL. The spacecraft was built for NASA by BallAerospace & Technologies Corporation, Boulder, Colo.For more information about Deep Impact on the Internet, visit www.nasa.gov/deepimpact .
The closer the time table approached to the actual impact itself the more concentrated the room became in gladly giving out information as to the size of the impactor (the size of a coffee table) the speed it was travelling (at 15,000mph) and of course posting links to direct tv coverage from NASA headquarters to those who came in and asked for info and links. Theories were discussed of what possibly could the meteor consist of. Some were reassured that nothing from the impact itself would ever reach earth since Temple 1, the meteor is an amazing 83 million miles away. Others who had telescopes would ask for directions in which way to point their telescope which was gladly replied with towards Spica in Orion the Hunter. Eagle averro multitasking posting images as they came in for those who could not connect to direct NASA tv or have a satellite dish to pick up the event on their television set.
All in all it showed us yet again that BPE is in fact the best. We may debate, theorize, argue (sometimes heatedly) but all in all it shows time and time again when it comes to pure science such as a new event marking the milestones in history, we pull together in unison with one common denominator, science.
Here are the detailed information from NASA/JPL
From NASA: Deep Impact Kicks off Fourth of July With Deep Space Fireworks
After 172 days and 431 million kilometers (268 million miles) of deep space stalking, Deep Impact successfully reached out and touched comet Tempel 1. The collision between the coffee table-sized impactor and city-sized comet occurred at 1:52 a.m. EDT.
“What a way to kick off America's Independence Day," said Deep Impact ProjectManager Rick Grammier of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The challenges of this mission and teamwork that went into making it a success, should makeall of us very proud.""This mission is truly a smashing success," said Andy Dantzler, director of NASA's Solar System Division. "Tomorrow and in the days ahead we will know a lot more about the origins of our solar system."Official word of the impact came 5 minutes after impact. At 1:57 a.m. EDT, an imagefrom the spacecraft's medium resolution camera downlinked to the computer screensof the mission's science team showed the tell-tale signs of a high-speed impact."The image clearly shows a spectacular impact," said Deep Impact principal investigatorDr. Michael A'Hearn of the University of Maryland, College Park. "With this muchdata we have a long night ahead of us, but that is what we were hoping for. There is so much here it is difficult to know where to begin."The celestial collision and ensuing data collection by the nearby Deep Impact mothershipwas the climax of a very active 24 hour period for the mission which began with impactor release at 2:07 a.m. EDT on July 3. Deep space maneuvers by the flyby, final checkout of both spacecraft and comet imaging took up most of the next 22 hours. Then, the impactor got down to its last two hours of life.
"The impactor kicked into its autonomous navigation mode right on time," said DeepImpact navigator Shyam Bhaskaran, of JPL. "Our preliminary analysis indicates the three impactor targeting maneuvers occurred on time at 90, 35 and 12.5 minutes before impact."At the moment the impactor was vaporizing itself in its 10 kilometers per second (6.3 miles per second) collision with comet Tempel 1, the Deep Impact flyby spacecraft was monitoring events from nearby. For the following14 minutes the flyby collected anddownlinked data as the comet loomed ever closer. Then, as expected at 2:05 a.m. EDT, the flyby stopped collecting data and entered a defensive posture called shield mode where its dust shields protect the spacecraft's vital components during its closestpassage through the comet's inner coma. Shield mode ended at 2:32 a.m. EDT when mission control re-established the link with the flyby spacecraft.
“The flyby surviving closest approach and shield mode has put the cap on an outstandingday," said Grammier. "Soon, we will begin the process of downlinking all the encounter information in one batch and hand it to the science team."The goal of the Deep Impact mission is to provide a glimpse beneath the surface of a comet, where material from the solar system's formation remains relatively unchanged.Mission scientists expect the project will answer basic questions about the formation of the solar system, by offering a better look at the nature and composition of the frozen celestial travelers known as comets.The University of Maryland is responsible for overall Deep Impact mission science, andproject management is handled by JPL. The spacecraft was built for NASA by BallAerospace & Technologies Corporation, Boulder, Colo.For more information about Deep Impact on the Internet, visit www.nasa.gov/deepimpact .
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