NASA Set To Launch Rocket On Collision Course With Comet

[Nbadan]

Nasa rocket to be launched on a collision course with comet
By David Usborne in New York
03 January 2005

Nasa scientists are preparing for what they hope will be a carefully controlled and entirely spectacular crash in outer space. If all goes according to plan, the resulting pyrotechnics of the 23,000mph collision involving a comet and a spaceship should occur on 4 July, Independence Day in America.

Officials at the space agency confirmed this weekend that they expect to launch a rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida later this month with its navigation system set to intercept a comet called Tempel 1 as it travels just beyond the orbit of Mars at a distance from Earth of about 80 million miles.

The rocket will carry a special module that will be released just in time to make a direct hit on the surface of the comet. The module is called Deep Impact, a name familiar to fans of the 1998 Hollywood blockbuster about a comet that strikes the surface of Earth.

Researchers are gambling that by deliberately smashing the module into Tempel 1, they will open a crater perhaps as large as the Coliseum in Rome to reveal what lies within. The explosion, equivalent to igniting 4.5 tonnes of TNT in space, will send a shower of material into space that will be analysed.

more..

Independent

We can't hit a missile traveling at a few 1000's of MPH without cheating, but we are gonna strike a comet going 23,000 MPH in the middle of space?

Something tells me there is more going on here.

[MannyIsGod]

Man, do some godamn research. A comet is much larger than an incoming missle, that alone makes it incredibly easier to hit. Not only that, but there is much more data on the comet because of a much longer observation period. You only get to track an incoming missle on radar for a few minutes.

Not only that, but it's going to be a module released from the origional probe, which ALSO makes it easier because you are doing so at a much reduced distance.

Besides, it's also NASA, which means they'll probably it up. Or have you not been paying attention to NASA over the past decade?

[Nbadan]

A comet is much larger than an incoming missle, that alone makes it incredibly easier to hit. Not only that, but there is much more data on the comet because of a much longer observation period. You only get to track an incoming missle on radar for a few minutes.

Someone needs to do some research, but it's not me. We couldn't hit a missile with a God-damned homing beacon attached to it. Forget tracking it live.

[Drachen]

sorry dan, all of the points that manny made are quite valid and correct.

also, what do you think this has to do with (ala your more is going on statement)

[Nbadan]

sorry dan, all of the points that manny made are quite valid and correct.

Using a two-staged approach could actually make the mission more difficult to accomplish because it increases the chance of a mistake in calculations. We did sweep the tail of a comet once with a single modular system to help determine the comets content, but the modules bringing the space dust back to earth crashed when a safety-chute failed to deploy.

As far as sinister motivations for such a mission, I'm not sure, maybe the NeoCons are preparing to attack the Sun next?

[Drachen]

this is about the farthest I believe you have reached, I know you were kidding about attacking the sun, but really there is no sinister reason for this, regardless of if the mission is hard or not.

[MannyIsGod]

Dude, you are unreal. I'm sorry, but I think I've reached the point where I use the ignore feature on this site.

[Nbadan]

this is about the farthest I believe you have reached, I know you were kidding about attacking the sun, but really there is no sinister reason for this, regardless of if the mission is hard or not.

Your probably right, but you never know the ramifications for something like this. Remember that we may someday orbit the part of the space that we send these pieces of comet flying. Then what?

[Nbadan]

Dude, you are unreal. I'm sorry, but I think I've reached the point where I use the ignore feature on this site.

Is this the same Manny who had to take a break from the Presidential Campaign in Mid-Sept because of political talk burnout?

[Nbadan]

The above below is to information about a simliar mission by Spain named after Don Quijote. This was in the news months ago, before NASA announced its similar mission. And now NASA is launching way ahead of schedule. Is there any significance?

MSNBC

[Nbadan]

I looked for the distance that the comet would be from Earth at time of impact. It will be 134 million km, or 0.894 AU, according to the following link.

Deepimpact

[MannyIsGod]

I don't understand what point you're trying to make with any of this?

It has no relation whatsoever to an ABM system because the situations are entirely different.

So the relevance of this in this forum is exactly what?

[Hook Dem]

Spock would say,"Thats not logical" and Kirk would say,"Beam me up Scotty". Look out your window Dan! They're coming for you!!!!!!

[Clandestino]

maybe we can't hit a missile, but we have missiles that can shoot down planes.. it seems like shooting a plane down would be harder bc they can try to evade SAMs.. however SAMs shoot down planes with great accuracy...

[Drachen]

Your probably right, but you never know the ramifications for something like this. Remember that we may someday orbit the part of the space that we send these pieces of comet flying. Then what?

If all your trying to imply is that the research from this project, may, somewhere down the line, have some sort of military ramifications, then Big whoop, you really havent discovered anything, as the information garnered from most NASA project can be manupulated by the military to serve their purpose. This project is no different.

[Bandit2981]

NASA needs to be privatized

[MannyIsGod]

The only problem is in having control surfaces that work in the atmosphere that will react fast enough. If we had that, ABMs would be a cakewalk. THAT'S IT!