|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
|
 Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 11:04 am Post subject: Ten hours to impact |
 |
|
The impact will be just after 2 pm here in Korea. For anybody who's working the standard 2-8 shift there's the consolation that on this Monday material that hasn't been seen for 4.6 billion years will be revealed for all to see.
The impactor was launched a number of hours ago and is now making its way towards the surface.
http://www.space.com/deepimpact/
And here's the latest press release:
| Quote: |
Impactor Away: Deep Impact Probe En Route to Comet
By Anthony Duignan-Cabrera
SPACE.com Managing Editor
posted: 3 July 2005
2:45 a.m. ET
This story was updated at 3:58 a.m. EDT.
PASADENA -- The Deep Impact mission is now less than 24-hours and 500,000 miles from its final destination after the spacecraft��s Impactor probe successfully separated from its Flyby mothership early Sunday morning.
The $333 million mission is slated to crash an 820-pound (371-kilogram) Impactor probe into Comet Tempel 1 and record the event via the Flyby mothership. The collision is expected to take place at 1:52 a.m. EDT (0552 GMT) on July 4. A cheer went up at 2:16 a.m. EDT (0616 GMT) when a mission controller announced when Deep Impact's mission control received confirmation that the Impactor had separated from the Flyby mothership at 2:07 a.m. EDT (0606 GMT).
"It went like clockwork. Very good, we��re very excited.�� Deep Impact project manager Rick Grammier, of NASA��s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) here, told reporters. ��The systems were all nominal and we were within half a kilometer of our target point before release and the release went very well."
Researchers hope NASA��s Deep Impact mission will not just succeed in ramming a comet, but will punch through Tempel 1��s surface and reveal material that has not been seen since the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. They hope Deep Impact will not only yield information about the composition of comets, but also shed light on the make-up of the early solar system.
"The first look at the data indicates that things couldn��t have gone better," said Monte Henderson, program manager for Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., the builders of NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft, via e-mail.
Following separation, Flyby completed its divert engine burn and moved safely out of the comet��s path. After the initial separation, an alarm went off onboard the Flyby vehicle. Mission controllers ran through a systems check and concluded the spacecraft was on track and the alarm could be ignored.
Grammier said that Flyby did manage to capture an image of Impactor after the release.
"We didn��t know if we would quite get that or not, so that was a good thing," Grammier said.
"We have been working on this program for five-and-a-half years, yet the major milestones are still ahead of us," Henderson said earlier Saturday evening, prior to the release.
In recent weeks, Comet Tempel 1 has surprised mission managers with a series of outbursts, the result of the comet��s ever-closer proximity to the sun. The first outburst was observed on June 14. A second outburst occurred on June 22 and was photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.
"We did not expect to see it," Henderson said. "Our science team is really excited about what they are finding."
The outbursts—sprays of water vapor and carbon dioxide—are a result of portions of a comet��s icy crust heating up under the sun��s light. According to Henderson, Tempel 1��s outburst is at the moment, a singular, predictable event. The comet completes one rotation on its axis every 42 hours, with one outburst per rotation.
Henderson described the outbursts as fog-like, dispersing over the surface of the comet, not an explosive plume that could adversely affect the Impactor��s ability to pinpoint the brightest spot on the comet��s surface. The team is not concerned that the outburst will interfere with the impact. The last outburst is expected to occur four hours prior to the collision said Henderson, and because of the outbursts diffuse orientation, it disperses after about 30 minutes.
"I think we are seeing it at it��s most active," Henderson said.
Today��s successful spacecraft separation is just the opening act for the Deep Impact mission. The real fireworks begin tomorrow, when Impactor begins its end-run toward Tempel 1 while Flyby, and a myriad of orbital and ground-based telescopes, look on.
A pre-impact press conference is currently set for 2:00 p.m. (1800 GMT) on July 3. NASA TV will provide live commentary of Deep Impact��s arrival and expected impact with Comet Tempel 1 beginning at 11:30 p.m. EDT (0330 July 4 GMT). |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Gollum
Joined: 04 Sep 2003
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 7:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Either we'll see some chunks of ice, or learn comets are part of some funky interstellar bus system, and we just crashed some alien race's 1005-1 express to their version of Kangnam.
We're all dead. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
|
| Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 11:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 4:01 am Post subject: |
|
|
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 4:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
cool pics.
I was reading about this the other day.
Is there any more info out on the impact yet? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
