All that you need to know about the Deep Impact mission:
- Deep Impact was the first mission to land on a comet and the first to eject material from a comet’s surface, garnering significant publicity
- It was launched by NASA from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on January 12, 2005.
- The mission aimed to study the interior composition of the comet Tempel 1 by releasing an impactor into the comet and the impactor successfully collided with the comet's nucleus on July 4, 2005, at 05:52 UTC.
- Following its launch, Deep Impact traveled 429 million km to reach Tempel 1 at a speed of 28.6 km/s.
- Upon reaching the comet, the spacecraft separated into the impactor and flyby sections, with the impactor moving into the comet's path.
- The impact delivered 1.96×101? joules of kinetic energy, equivalent to 4.7 tons of TNT.
- The collision excavated debris from the comet's interior, forming an impact crater which was later found to be about 150 meters in diameter. The impact generated a large and bright dust cloud as well.
- Minutes after impact, the flyby probe passed the nucleus at 500 km distance, capturing images and data.
- The event was also observed by Earth-based telescopes and space observatories, including Hubble and Spitzer.
- Scientific goals included understanding the composition of the comet's nucleus, the depth of the impact crater, and the comet's formation.
- The spacecraft consisted of two main sections: the 372-kg impactor and the 601 kg flyby section.
- The flyby section included solar panels, a debris shield, and several science instruments for imaging and infrared spectroscopy.
- The impactor's trajectory was adjusted multiple times before impact, and it captured high-resolution images just before collision.
- The impactor's payload was made of copper to minimize interference with scientific measurements.
- Data from the impact revealed that the comet's material was dustier and less icy than expected, with finer particles compared to talcum powder. Additionally, Clays, carbonates, sodium, and crystalline silicates were found in the comet's composition.
- Apart from this, Deep Impact flew by Earth on December 31, 2007, for an extended mission called EPOXI to study extrasolar planets and comet Hartley 2.
- Sadly, the communication with the spacecraft was lost in August 2013.
- But its success led to the approval of the Stardust spacecraft's NExT (New Exploration of Tempel 1) mission to revisit Tempel 1 and study the crater in 2011.
