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First Steps for Lunar Impact …
The Mission Objectives of th …
3/27/08
Title First Steps for Lunar Impactor
Date 3/27/08
Description The Mission Objectives of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) include confirming the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the Moonï˜∑__s South Pole.
Tethys and Titan
Description Cassini looks toward Tethys and its great crater Odysseus, while at the same time capturing veiled Titan in the distance (at left).
Full Description Cassini looks toward Tethys and its great crater Odysseus, while at the same time capturing veiled Titan in the distance (at left). Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) is shrouded in a thick, smog-like atmosphere in which many small, potential impactors burn up before hitting the moon's surface. Crater-pocked Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across) has no such protective layer, although even a thick blanket of atmosphere would have done little good against the impactor that created Odysseus. The eastern limb of Tethys is overexposed in this view. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 6, 2006, at a distance of approximately 4 million kilometers (2.5 million miles) from Titan and 2.7 million kilometers (1.7 million miles) from Tethys. The image scale is 25 kilometers (16 miles) per pixel on Titan and 16 kilometers (10 miles) per pixel on Tethys. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Date February 17, 2006
Deep Impact Launch
title Deep Impact Launch
date 01.12.2005
description Erupting from the flames and smoke beneath it, NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft lifts off at 1:47 p.m. EST today from Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact is heading for space and a rendezvous 83 million miles from Earth with Comet Tempel 1. After releasing a 3- by 3-foot projectile (impactor) to crash onto the surface July 4, 2005, Deep Impact's flyby spacecraft will reveal the secrets of the comet's interior by collecting pictures and data of how the crater forms, measuring the crater's depth and diameter as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determining the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network. *Image Credit*: NASA
Ganymede's Khensu Crater
title Ganymede's Khensu Crater
date 09.06.1996
description The dark-floored crater Khensu is the target of this image of Ganymede. The Solid-State Imaging System onboard the Galileo spacecraft imaged this region as it passed Ganymede during its second orbit through the jovian system. Khensu is located at 20N latitude and 1530W longitude in a region of bright terrain known as Uruk Sulcus, and is about 13 kilometers in diameter. Like some other craters on Ganymede, it possesses an unusually dark floor and a bright ejecta blanket. The dark component may be residual material from the impactor that formed the crater. Another possibility is that the impactor may have punched through the bright surface to reveal a dark layer beneath. Another large crater named El is partly visible in the top righthand corner of the image. This crater is 54 kilometers in diameter and has a small "pit" in its center. Craters with such a "central pit" are common across Ganymede and are especially intriguing since they may reveal secrets about the structure of the satellite's shallow subsurface. North is to the upper left of the picture, and the Sun illuminates the surface from nearly overhead. The image covers an area about 100 by 86 kilometers across at a resolution of 111 meters per picture element. The image was taken on September 6, 1996, by the Solid-State Imaging System onboard the Galileo spacecraft. *Image Credit*: Brown University
Comet Tempel 1 Animations
Name Comet Tempel 1 Animations
Araona Crater (Iturralde Str …
Title Araona Crater (Iturralde Structure) With Labels
Abstract The Araona Crater (also known as the Iturralde Structure) is a suspected crater from an impactor which struck northern Bolivia approximately 20,000 years ago. The feature is believed to have been caused by a short period comet striking at 70 kilometres per second and splattering into the muddy alluvial flood plain in the Lower Amazon jungle. The impact created a circular depression which is now roughly 8 kilometres across and 3 metres deep. The structure was discovered in 1988 Landsat data, but was not visited successfully until 1998 because the region is inaccessible. Future expeditions hope to finally settle if the feature truly is the impact crater it appears to be, and if so, determine the nature of the impactor. The full Landsat scene of Northern Bolivia includes the Rio Bene running northward through the image (North is up), with the Rio Madidi running across the image from southwest towards the northeast before joining the Rio Bene. The image was constructed from Landsat Thematic Mapper bands 7, 5, and 3 displayed as red, green, and blue respectively. The green tone of the image distinguishes between different types of vegetation with low scrubland in the alluvial flood plain appears as a light green and dense tropical jungle coverage appearing dark green. The close-up of the impact crater uses the same Landsat data, but passed through a sharpening image filter which emphasizes high spatial frequency features and tends to enhance color contrast.
Completed 1999-04-09
Araona Crater (Iturralde Str …
Title Araona Crater (Iturralde Structure) With Labels
Abstract The Araona Crater (also known as the Iturralde Structure) is a suspected crater from an impactor which struck northern Bolivia approximately 20,000 years ago. The feature is believed to have been caused by a short period comet striking at 70 kilometres per second and splattering into the muddy alluvial flood plain in the Lower Amazon jungle. The impact created a circular depression which is now roughly 8 kilometres across and 3 metres deep. The structure was discovered in 1988 Landsat data, but was not visited successfully until 1998 because the region is inaccessible. Future expeditions hope to finally settle if the feature truly is the impact crater it appears to be, and if so, determine the nature of the impactor. The full Landsat scene of Northern Bolivia includes the Rio Bene running northward through the image (North is up), with the Rio Madidi running across the image from southwest towards the northeast before joining the Rio Bene. The image was constructed from Landsat Thematic Mapper bands 7, 5, and 3 displayed as red, green, and blue respectively. The green tone of the image distinguishes between different types of vegetation with low scrubland in the alluvial flood plain appears as a light green and dense tropical jungle coverage appearing dark green. The close-up of the impact crater uses the same Landsat data, but passed through a sharpening image filter which emphasizes high spatial frequency features and tends to enhance color contrast.
Completed 1999-04-09
Araona Crater (Iturralde Str …
Title Araona Crater (Iturralde Structure) With Labels
Abstract The Araona Crater (also known as the Iturralde Structure) is a suspected crater from an impactor which struck northern Bolivia approximately 20,000 years ago. The feature is believed to have been caused by a short period comet striking at 70 kilometres per second and splattering into the muddy alluvial flood plain in the Lower Amazon jungle. The impact created a circular depression which is now roughly 8 kilometres across and 3 metres deep. The structure was discovered in 1988 Landsat data, but was not visited successfully until 1998 because the region is inaccessible. Future expeditions hope to finally settle if the feature truly is the impact crater it appears to be, and if so, determine the nature of the impactor. The full Landsat scene of Northern Bolivia includes the Rio Bene running northward through the image (North is up), with the Rio Madidi running across the image from southwest towards the northeast before joining the Rio Bene. The image was constructed from Landsat Thematic Mapper bands 7, 5, and 3 displayed as red, green, and blue respectively. The green tone of the image distinguishes between different types of vegetation with low scrubland in the alluvial flood plain appears as a light green and dense tropical jungle coverage appearing dark green. The close-up of the impact crater uses the same Landsat data, but passed through a sharpening image filter which emphasizes high spatial frequency features and tends to enhance color contrast.
Completed 1999-04-09
3D Barringer Meteorite Crate …
Title 3D Barringer Meteorite Crater
Explanation Barringer Meteorite Crater [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_Crater ], near Winslow, Arizona, is one of the best known impact craters on planet Earth [ http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/images/ barringer.htm ]. View this color stereo anaglyph [ http://www.photomeeting.de/astromeeting/miscellaneous/ 070616crater3D_d.htm ] with red/blue glasses [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/Help/ VendorList.html#Glasses ] to get a dramatic sense of the crater's [ http://barringercrater.com/ ] dimensions -- one mile wide, and up to 570 feet deep. (A cross-eyed stereo pair is available here [ http://www.astromeeting.de/miscellaneous/ 070616crater_x.htm ].) Historically, this crater is the first recognized to be caused by an impact rather than a volcanic eruption. Modern research [ http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1479.html ] indicates that the impactor responsible, a 300,000 ton nickel-iron meteor [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/ meteorites.html ], struck some 50,000 years ago. Estimates suggest that it was about 130 feet across and was traveling over 26,000 miles per hour. For comparison, the asteroid or comet impactor that created the Chicxulub crater [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000226.html ] 65 million years ago, and is thought to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, was 6 to 12 miles across.
Deep Impact Spacecraft Hurtl …
Title Deep Impact Spacecraft Hurtles Toward Comet
Explanation What happens when you crash into a comet? That was a question considered by astronomers [ http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/bios.html ] when they designed the Deep Impact mission [ http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html ], launched in January. This coming July 4, the Deep Impact spaceship will reach its target - Comet Tempel 1 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050512.html ] -- and release an impactor over five times the mass of a person toward its surface. The mothership will photograph the result. The remaining crater [ http://www.planetary.org/deepimpact/di_crater.html ] may tell how Tempel 1 is constructed. If, for example, Comet Tempel 1 [ http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/science/tempel1.html ] is an extremely loose pile of debris, the impactor may leave little or no discernable crater. On the other hand, if the comet's surface is relatively firm, the impactor's ripple may leave quite a large crater. A contest is even being held [ http://www.planetary.org/deepimpact/contest_enter.html ] to predict the size of the resulting crater. Pictured above [ http://www.planetary.org/deepimpact/di.html ] is an artist's impression of the initial encounter between the spacecraft and the comet.
The Landscape on Comet Tempe …
Title The Landscape on Comet Tempel 1
Explanation This diverse landscape is the surface of comet Temple 1's [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050512.html ] nucleus as seen by the Deep Impact probe's Impactor Targeting Sensor [ http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/tech/impactor.html ]. Within minutes of recording the rugged view [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02135 ], the landscape had changed dramatically though, as the impactor smashed into the surface near the two large, half kilometer-sized craters at picture center. Indications [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/ PIA02131 ] are that the probe penetrated well below the surface before vaporizing, sending a relatively narrow plume of debris blasting back into space. Researchers are still speculating on the final size of the crater [ http://www.deepimpact.umd.edu/science/ cratering.html ] produced by the July 4th comet crash [ http://www.deepimpact.umd.edu/press/ 050704a-jpl.html ], but material continues to spew from the impact site and has caused the faint comet [ http://deepimpact.umd.edu/collab_pub/imagep.shtml ] to brighten significantly. Determining the crater dimensions and analyzing the debris ejected from the comet's interior will provide premier insights into the formation of comet Tempel 1 [ http://www.deepimpact.umd.edu/science/tempel1.html ], a primordial chunk of our own solar system.
A Swift Look at Tempel 1
Title A Swift Look at Tempel 1
Explanation Comet Tempel 1 is targeted for a collision [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050516.html ] with the impactor probe from NASA's Deep Impact Spacecraft at about 1:52am EDT on July 4th (other time zones [ http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/faq5.html#q1 ]). Cameras on the impactor probe and the flyby spacecraft will capture close-up images of the event - expected to produce [ http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/wwws.html ] a crater on the surface of the comet's nucleus. Of course, Earth-orbiting [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/ releases/2005/16/ ] and ground-based telescopes will be watching too, including instruments on the Swift satellite normally used to spot gamma-ray bursts [ http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/swift/swiftsc.html ] in the distant universe. Swift's ultraviolet telescope recorded this picture of Tempel 1 [ http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/swift/results/releases/ images/9P_Tempel1/ ] on June 29th. Because the image is registered on the comet, the background stars appear as short trails. Want to follow the encounter? Media coverage chronicling the event, and the possibilities for viewing the comet [ http://deepimpact.umd.edu/amateur/ ] with small telescopes can be found through the Deep Impact website [ http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html ]. Updated images will also be available from the Kitt Peak National Observatory [ http://www.noao.edu/news/deep-impact/ ].
Gosses Bluff Impact Crater, …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Impact craters, like those w …
ISS007-E-5697_lrg
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2003-05-20
creator NASA -- Astronaut photograph eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS007&roll=E&frame=05697 ISS007-E-05697 was taken with an Electronic Still Camera on May 20, 2003 with a 180-mm lens and is provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA-JSC eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.
identifier ISS007-E-5697_lrg
Europa, Ganymede, and Callis …
PIA01656
Jupiter
Solid-State Imaging
Title Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto: Surface comparison at high spatial resolution
Original Caption Released with Image Ganymede's youngest large craters would have been created only about one billion years ago. Europa's surface in this model should be very young, with this satellite being geologically quite active even today. The images were taken by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft. They were processed by the Institute of Planetary Exploration of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Berlin, Germany, and scaled to a size of 150 meters per pixel (m/pixel). North is up in all images. The spatial resolution of the original data was 180 m/pixel for Europa and Ganymede and 90 m/pixel for Callisto. The Europa image was taken during Galileo's 6th orbit, the Ganymede image during the 7th, and the Callisto image during the 10th orbit. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov ]. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo ]., These images show a comparison of the surfaces of the three icy Galilean satellites, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, scaled to a common resolution of 150 meters per picture element (pixel). Despite the similar distance of 0.8 billion kilometers to the sun, their surfaces show dramatic differences. Callisto (with a diameter of 4817 kilometers) is "peppered" by impact craters, but is also covered by a dark material layer of so far unknown origin, as seen here in the region of the Asgard multi-ring basin. It appears that this layer erodes or covers small craters. Ganymede's landscape is also widely formed by impacts, but different from Callisto, much tectonic deformation can be observed in the Galileo images, such as these of Nicholson Regio. Ganymede, with a diameter of 5268 kilometers (one-and-a-half times larger than the Earth's moon), is the largest moon in the solar system. Contrary to Ganymede and Callisto, Europa (diameter 3121 kilometers) has a sparsely cratered surface, indicating that geologic activity took place more recently. Globally, ridged plains and the so-called "mottled terrain" are the main landforms. In the high-resolution image presented here showing the area around the Agave and Asterius dark lineaments, older ridges dominate the surface, while a small part of the younger mottled terrain is visible to the lower left of the image center. While all three moons are believed to be nearly as old as the solar system (4.5 billion years), the age of the surfaces, i.e. the time since the last major geologic activity took place, is still subject to debate. Without having surface samples in hand, the only method to roughly determine a planet's or satellite's geologic surface age is by crater counting. However, assumptions about the impactor fluxes must be made based on theoretical models and possible observations of candidate impactors such as asteroids and comets. Asteroids should have been very common in the early days of the solar system, but this source should have been largely exhausted by about 3.8 billion years before present. For comets, the impactor flux is believed to be rather constant throughout the whole lifetime of the solar system, meaning that the probability of an impact of a large comet is similar today as it was, say, four billion years ago. Assuming the asteroids have been the dominant bodies that impacted the Galilean satellites (which is believed to be the case on the Moon, the Earth, and other inner solar system bodies as well as within the asteroid belt itself), the surfaces of Ganymede and Callisto must be old, roughly four billion years. In this case, the Europan surface would by comparison have a mean age of one-hundred to several-hundred million years. Low-level geologic activity on Europa might be possible, but Ganymede and Callisto should be geologically dead. Assuming on the other hand that comets have been the main impactors in the Jovian system, Callisto's surface would still be determined to be old, but
Moderate-resolution view of …
PIA00898
Jupiter
Solid-State Imaging
Title Moderate-resolution view of Callisto's surface
Original Caption Released with Image This five-frame mosaic of the Jovian satellite Callisto shows a surface densely populated with impact craters. However, close inspection of this image reveals differences among the craters. For example, a few of the craters contain central dome-shaped features, while others contain depressions, or pits, within the crater floor. Scientists study differences among craters such as these to learn more about both the surface that was struck by an impactor, and the impactor itself. These images were obtained by the Galileo spacecraft on its eighth orbit around Jupiter at a distance of 48,000 km from Callisto. The mosaic is centered at 31 S. latitude and 122 W. longitude, and covers an area approximately 700 kilometers (420 miles) by 900 kilometers (540 miles)-- somewhat larger than Montana. The finest details that can be discerned in this picture are about 1.8 kilometers across (0.93 km/pixel). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo
Tethys and Titan
PIA07705
Saturn
Imaging Science Subsystem - …
Title Tethys and Titan
Original Caption Released with Image Cassini looks toward Tethys and its great crater Odysseus, while at the same time capturing veiled Titan in the distance (at left). Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) is shrouded in a thick, smog-like atmosphere in which many small, potential impactors burn up before hitting the moon's surface. Crater-pocked Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across) has no such protective layer, although even a thick blanket of atmosphere would have done little good against the impactor that created Odysseus. The eastern limb of Tethys is overexposed in this view. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 6, 2006, at a distance of approximately 4 million kilometers (2.5 million miles) from Titan and 2.7 million kilometers (1.7 million miles) from Tethys. The image scale is 25 kilometers (16 miles) per pixel on Titan and 16 kilometers (10 miles) per pixel on Tethys. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ]. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org [ http://ciclops.org ].
It Happens in a Flash
PIA02108
Title It Happens in a Flash
Original Caption Released with Image This image shows a flash produced in a laboratory by a high-velocity bead slamming into dust. Though the flash itself can't be resolved, its brilliant effects can be seen in this three-second time exposure. Scientists say that the collision between Deep Impact's impactor and comet Tempel 1 may produce a similar flash. This flash occurred when a quarter-inch sphere smashed into powdered dust at a speed of 6.4 kilometers per second (4 miles per second). Even though the actual flash lasted less than 50 millionths of a second, the camera recorded the hot debris in the impact crater (center) and the streaking ejecta. This experiment was performed at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Kittu Dark Ray Crater
PIA01611
Jupiter
Solid-State Imaging
Title Kittu Dark Ray Crater
Original Caption Released with Image View of the dark ray crater Kittu on Jupiter's moon, Ganymede. Kittu is seen in approximately true color, as imaged with the Galileo camera's violet, one micrometer, and near infrared filters. The crater shows a bright white central peak and rim, and dark brownish material surrounding it. Diffuse dark rays, sprinkled thinly atop surrounding grooved terrain, emanate from the impact site. The dark material dusted over the surface is probably part of a dark impactor (asteroid or comet) which was strewn across the surface upon impact. The impactor hit grooved terrain, and a straight segment of the crater's rim was created when a portion of the rim collapsed along the trend of an older fault. North is to the bottom of the picture and the sun illuminates the surface from the left. The mosaic, centered at 0 degrees latitude and 335 degrees longitude, covers an area approximately 70 by 100 kilometers. The resolution in the color portion of this image is about 280 meters per picture element, while the resolution in the black and white portion is 145 meters per picture element. The images were taken beginning on April 5, 1997 from 6 hours, 39 minutes, 46 seconds Universal Time at a range of 14252 kilometers by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo [ http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo ]
Large Impact Structures on E …
PIA01661
Jupiter
Solid-State Imaging
Title Large Impact Structures on Europa
Original Caption Released with Image The picture compares four large impact structures on Jupiter's icy moon, Europa. Clockwise, from top left, are Pwyll, Cilix, Tyre, and Mannann'an. Impact structures with diameters of more than 20 kilometers are rather rare on Europa. Tyre is most unusual. While the effective crater, which is somewhat larger than the prominent large bull's eye feature, is about 40 kilometers (25 miles) across, the entire structure is much larger. The concentric rings display relatively little relief. Some of the smaller craters near Tyre were formed by material ejected by and then redeposited from the impact which formed Tyre. One hypothesis for such characteristics is that the impactor which formed Tyre penetrated through an icy crust into a less brittle layer. While Pwyll, Cilix, and Mannann'an also display shallow crater depths for their size, they more closely resemble similar sized craters on two neighboring moons of Jupiter, Ganymede and Callisto. Perhaps the impactor did not punch through the upper crust during these events. This might have been the case if the impacting body was smaller or weaker than in the case of Tyre or if the crust was thinner at the location of Tyre during the impact event. North is to the top of the picture. The sun illuminates the surfaces from the right, except for Tyre, where the sun illuminates the surface from the left. The horizontal and vertical grey lines in the Tyre mosaic indicate gaps in the data received for this image. The Pwyll image was taken on December 16, 1997, Cilix on May 31, 1998,Tyre on March 29, 1998, and Mannann'an on March 29, 1998. All images were taken by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URLhttp://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov ]. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URLhttp://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo ]
Deep Impact on Launch Pad
PIA07292
Title Deep Impact on Launch Pad
Original Caption Released with Image Deep Impact awaits launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. on Jan. 12, 2005. The spacecraft will travel to comet Tempel 1 and release an impactor, creating a crater on the surface of the comet. Scientists believe the exposed materials may give clues to the formation of our solar system.
Asymmetric Crater
PIA04945
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Asymmetric Crater
Original Caption Released with Image Released 18 December 2003 Asymmetric craters such as the one in the center of this image are fairly rare. The more typical symmetric craters are formed when meteors impact a surface over a wide range of angles. Only very low impact angles (within 15° of horizontal) result in asymmetric structures such as this one. The bilateral symmetry of the ejecta, like two wings on either side of the elliptical crater, is typical of oblique impacts. The small crater downrange from the main crater could have been caused by the impactor breaking apart before impact or possibly a 'decapitation' of the impactor as it hit with the 'head' traveling farther to form the smaller structure. Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -8.5, Longitude 227.5 East (132.5 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Asymmetric Crater
PIA04945
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Asymmetric Crater
Original Caption Released with Image Released 18 December 2003 Asymmetric craters such as the one in the center of this image are fairly rare. The more typical symmetric craters are formed when meteors impact a surface over a wide range of angles. Only very low impact angles (within 15° of horizontal) result in asymmetric structures such as this one. The bilateral symmetry of the ejecta, like two wings on either side of the elliptical crater, is typical of oblique impacts. The small crater downrange from the main crater could have been caused by the impactor breaking apart before impact or possibly a 'decapitation' of the impactor as it hit with the 'head' traveling farther to form the smaller structure. Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -8.5, Longitude 227.5 East (132.5 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Venus - Lakshmi Region
PIA00082
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
Title Venus - Lakshmi Region
Original Caption Released with Image This Magellan image is centered at 55 degrees north latitude, 348.5 degrees longitude, in the eastern Lakshmi region of Venus. This image, which is of an area 300 kilometers (180 miles) in width and 230 kilometers (138 miles) in length, is a mosaic of orbits 458 through 484. The image shows a relatively flat plains region composed of many lava flows. The dark flows mostly likely represent smooth lava flows similar to 'pahoehoe' flows on Earth while the brighter lava flows are rougher flows similar to 'aa' flows on Earth. (The terms 'pahoehoe' and 'aa' refer to textures of lava with pahoehoe a smooth or ropey surface, and aa a rough, clinkery texture). The rougher flows are brighter because the rough surface returns more energy to the radar than the smooth flows. Situated on top of the lava flows are three dark splotches. Because of the thick Venusian atmosphere, the small impactors break up before they reached the surface. Only the fragments from the broken up impactor are deposited on the surface and these fragments produce the dark splotches in this image. The splotch at the far right (east) has a crater centered in it, indicating that the impactor was not completely destroyed during its journey through the atmosphere. The dark splotches in the center and to the far left in this image each represent an impactor that was broken up into small fragments that did not penetrate the surface to produce a crater. The dark splotch at the left has been modified by the wind. A southwest northeast wind flow has moved some of the debris making up the splotch to the northeast where it has piled up against some small ridges.
Venus - Impact Crater in Eas …
PIA00474
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
Title Venus - Impact Crater in Eastern Navka Region
Original Caption Released with Image This Magellan image, which is 50 kilometers (31 miles) in width and 80 kilometers (50 miles) in length, is centered at 11.9 degrees latitude, 352 degrees longitude in the eastern Navka Region of Venus. The crater, which is approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) in diameter, displays a butterfly symmetry pattern. The ejecta pattern most likely results from an oblique impact, where the impactor came from the south and ejected material to the north.
Venus - Complex Crater 'Dick …
PIA00479
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
Title Venus - Complex Crater 'Dickinson' in NE Atalanta Region
Original Caption Released with Image This Magellan image is centered at 74.6 degrees north latitude and 177.3 east longitude, in the northeastern Atalanta Region of Venus. The image is approximately 185 kilometers (115 miles) wide at the base and shows Dickinson, an impact crater 69 kilometers (43 miles) in diameter. The crater is complex, characterized by a partial central ring and a floor flooded by radar-dark and radar-bright materials. Hummocky, rough-textured ejecta extend all around the crater, except to the west. The lack of ejecta to the west may indicate that the impactor that produced the crater was an oblique impact from the west. Extensive radar-bright flows that emanate from the crater's eastern walls may represent large volumes of impact melt, or they may be the result of volcanic material released from the subsurface during the cratering event.
Khensu Crater on Ganymede
PIA01090
Jupiter
Solid-State Imaging
Title Khensu Crater on Ganymede
Original Caption Released with Image The dark-floored crater, Khensu, is the target of this image of Ganymede. The solid state imaging camera on NASA's Galileo spacecraft imaged this region as it passed Ganymede during its second orbit through the Jovian system. Khensu is located at 2 degrees latitude and 153 degrees longitude in a region of bright terrain known as Uruk Sulcus, and is about 13 kilometers (8 miles) in diameter. Like some other craters on Ganymede, it possesses an unusually dark floor and a bright ejecta blanket. The dark component may be residual material from the impactor that formed the crater. Another possibility is that the impactor may have punched through the bright surface to reveal a dark layer beneath. Another large crater named El is partly visible in the top-right corner of the image. This crater is 54 kilometers (34 miles) in diameter and has a small "pit" in its center. Craters with such a "central pit" are common across Ganymede and are especially intriguing since they may reveal secrets about the structure of the satellite's shallow subsurface. North is to the top-left of the picture and the sun illuminates the surface from nearly overhead. The image covers an area about 100 kilometers (62 miles) by 86 kilometers (54 miles) across at a resolution of 111 meters (370 feet) per picture element. The image was taken on September 6, 1996 by the solid state imaging (CCD) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech). This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov.
X-ray Eyes on Tempel
PIA02118
Sol (our sun)
Chandra X-Ray Observatory
Title X-ray Eyes on Tempel
Original Caption Released with Image Figure 1: X-ray Eyes on Tempel This false-color image shows comet Tempel 1 as seen by Chandra X-ray Observatory on June 30, 2005, Universal Time. The comet was bright and condensed. The X-rays observed from comets are caused by an interaction between highly charged oxygen in the solar wind and neutral gases from the comet. The observatory detected X-rays with an energy of 0.3 to 1.0 kilo electron Volts. The bulk of the X-rays were between 0.5 and 0.7 kilo electron Volts. Chandra will observe the comet for 18 hours during and after the time when NASA's Deep Impact impactor probe collides with Tempel 1 at 10:52 p.m. Pacific time, July 3 (1:52 a.m. Eastern time, July 4). The material ejected from the crater could cause the interaction region, and thus the X-ray emission, to move toward the Sun.
X-ray Eyes on Tempel
PIA02118
Sol (our sun)
Chandra X-Ray Observatory
Title X-ray Eyes on Tempel
Original Caption Released with Image Figure 1: X-ray Eyes on Tempel This false-color image shows comet Tempel 1 as seen by Chandra X-ray Observatory on June 30, 2005, Universal Time. The comet was bright and condensed. The X-rays observed from comets are caused by an interaction between highly charged oxygen in the solar wind and neutral gases from the comet. The observatory detected X-rays with an energy of 0.3 to 1.0 kilo electron Volts. The bulk of the X-rays were between 0.5 and 0.7 kilo electron Volts. Chandra will observe the comet for 18 hours during and after the time when NASA's Deep Impact impactor probe collides with Tempel 1 at 10:52 p.m. Pacific time, July 3 (1:52 a.m. Eastern time, July 4). The material ejected from the crater could cause the interaction region, and thus the X-ray emission, to move toward the Sun.
Moment of Impact
PIA02131
Sol (our sun)
Impactor Targeting Sensor
Title Moment of Impact
Original Caption Released with Image When NASA's Deep Impact probe collided with Tempel 1, a bright, small flash was created, which rapidly expanded above the surface of the comet. This flash lasted for more than a second. Its overall brightness is close to that predicted by several models. After the initial flash, there was a pause before a bright plume quickly extended above the comet surface. The debris from the impact eventually cast a long shadow across the surface, indicating a narrow plume of ejected material, rather than a wide cone. The Deep Impact probe appears to have struck deep, before gases were heated and explosively released. The impact crater was observed to grow in size over time. A preliminary interpretation of these data indicate that the upper surface of the comet may be fluffy, or highly porous. The observed sequence of impact events is similar to laboratory experiments using highly porous targets, especially those that are rich in volatile substances. The duration of the hot, luminous gas phase, as well as the continued growth of the crater over time, all point to a model consistent with a large crater. This image was taken by Deep Impact's medium-resolution camera.
Europa Impact Crater
PIA02561
Jupiter
Near Infrared Mapping Spectr …
Title Europa Impact Crater
Original Caption Released with Image A newly discovered, city-sized impact crater viewed by NASA's Galileo spacecraft may shed new light on the nature of the enigmatic icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. This false-color image reveals the scar of a past major impact of a comet or small asteroid on Europa's surface. The bright, circular feature at center right has a diameter of about 80 kilometers (50 miles), making it comparable in size to the largest cities on Earth. The area within the outer boundary of the continuous bright ring is about 5,000 square kilometers (nearly 2,000 square miles). The diameter of the darker area within the bright ring is about 29 kilometers (18 miles), which is large enough to contain both the city of San Francisco and New York's Manhattan Island, side by side. The brightest reds in this image correspond to surfaces with high proportions of relatively pure water ice, while the blue colors indicate that non-ice materials are also present. The composition of the darker materials is controversial, they may consist of minerals formed by evaporation of salty brines, or they may be rich in sulfuric acid. The bright ring is a blanket of ejecta that consists of icy subsurface material that was blasted out of the crater by the impact, while the darker area in the center may retain some of the materials from the impacting body. Further study may yield new insights about both the nature of the impactor and the surface chemistry of Europa. Europa's surface is a question of great interest at present, since an ocean of liquid water may exist beneath the icy crust, possibly providing an environment suitable for life. Geologic investigations of Europa's surface are underway, and a new spacecraft mission, the Europa Orbiter, is planned. Impact craters with diameters of 20 kilometers (12 miles) and larger are extremely rare on Europa, as of 1999 only 7 such features were known. The rarity of larger impact craters on Europa lends greater significance to the discovery of this one. Impact crater counts are often employed to estimate the ages of the exposed surfaces of planets and satellites, and the small number of craters found on Europa implies that the surface may be quite young in geological terms. Thus the discovery of this feature may provide additional insights into questions about the age and level of geological activity of Europa's surface. Impact craters are expected to form with greater frequency on the "leading" sides of satellites that always turn the same face to their primary planet, in this case, Jupiter. The process is much like the effect of running through a rainstorm. The "apex" of Europa's leading side is located on the equator at 90 degrees West longitude, only about 10 degrees removed from the feature shown. Europa's leading side does not receive a continuous bombardment by ionized particles carried along by Jupiter's rapidly rotating magnetosphere (as is the case for the trailing side), which may allow greater preservation of the chemical, signatures of the impacting object. To the east of the bright ring-like feature are two, or perhaps three, similar but less well-defined quasi-circular features, raising the possibility that this crater is one member of a catena, or chain of craters. This would lend still greater interest to this area as a potential target for focused investigations by later missions such as the Europa Orbiter. The near-infrared mapping spectrometer on board Galileo obtained this image on May 31,1998, during that spacecraft's 15th orbital encounter with Europa. The image data was returned to Earth in several segments during both the 15th and the 16th orbital periods. Merging and processing of the full data set was accomplished in 1999. Analysis and interpretation are ongoing. Galileo has been orbiting Jupiter and its moons since December 1995. Its primary mission ended in December 1997, and after that Galileo successfully completed a two-year extended mission. The spacecraft is in the midst of yet another extended journey called the Galileo Millennium Mission. More information about the Galileo mission is available at:http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov ]JPL manages Galileo for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
A Field of Secondary Craters
PIA09584
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title A Field of Secondary Craters
Original Caption Released with Image Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image (PSP_002281_2115 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_002281_2115 ]) shows a secondary crater field. Secondary craters form when material ejected from a larger impact event impacts the Martian surface. One impact event, depending on the size of the impactor, can form hundreds of millions of secondary craters at essentially the same time. Primary craters (those created directly from an impactor from space) can be the same size as secondary craters, which makes dating surfaces based on the number of accumulated craters difficult to near-impossible. Secondary craters are distinguished from primaries based on their morphologies. They are sometimes irregularly shaped, as seen in this image, because they form at relatively low velocities. The velocity of the impactor determines a crater's size, shape, and depth, with lower energy impacts forming shallow, less-developed craters and higher energy impacts forming deeper, more regular craters. Secondary craters often occur in clusters, as seen here, as a piece of ejecta breaks up before hitting the surface. Primary craters form at random locations globally. Secondary clusters are more likely to be found in groups because of their formation mechanism. Observation Geometry Acquisition date: 1 January 2007 Local Mars time: 3:34 PM Degrees latitude (centered): 31.1 ° Degrees longitude (East): 89.7 ° Range to target site: 291.1 km (181.9 miles) Original image scale range: 29.1 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~87 cm across are resolved Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 0.2 ° Phase angle: 57.1 ° Solar incidence angle: 57 °, with the Sun about 33 ° above the horizon Solar longitude: 170.2 °, Northern Summer NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo.
A Field of Secondary Craters
PIA09584
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title A Field of Secondary Craters
Original Caption Released with Image Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image (PSP_002281_2115 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_002281_2115 ]) shows a secondary crater field. Secondary craters form when material ejected from a larger impact event impacts the Martian surface. One impact event, depending on the size of the impactor, can form hundreds of millions of secondary craters at essentially the same time. Primary craters (those created directly from an impactor from space) can be the same size as secondary craters, which makes dating surfaces based on the number of accumulated craters difficult to near-impossible. Secondary craters are distinguished from primaries based on their morphologies. They are sometimes irregularly shaped, as seen in this image, because they form at relatively low velocities. The velocity of the impactor determines a crater's size, shape, and depth, with lower energy impacts forming shallow, less-developed craters and higher energy impacts forming deeper, more regular craters. Secondary craters often occur in clusters, as seen here, as a piece of ejecta breaks up before hitting the surface. Primary craters form at random locations globally. Secondary clusters are more likely to be found in groups because of their formation mechanism. Observation Geometry Acquisition date: 1 January 2007 Local Mars time: 3:34 PM Degrees latitude (centered): 31.1 ° Degrees longitude (East): 89.7 ° Range to target site: 291.1 km (181.9 miles) Original image scale range: 29.1 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~87 cm across are resolved Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 0.2 ° Phase angle: 57.1 ° Solar incidence angle: 57 °, with the Sun about 33 ° above the horizon Solar longitude: 170.2 °, Northern Summer NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo.
Deep Impact on Its Way
PIA07266
Sol (our sun)
Hale Telescope 200-inch
Title Deep Impact on Its Way
Original Caption Released with Image This Jan. 13 photograph was taken by Mt Palomar's 200-inch telescope as the Deep Impact spacecraft was at a distance of about 260,000 kilometers (163,000 miles) from Earth and moving at a speed of about 16,000 kilometers per hour (10,000 miles per hour). The high speed of the spacecraft causes it to appear as a long streak across the sky in the constellation Virgo during the 10-minute exposure time of the image. The spacecraft will travel to comet Tempel 1 and release an impactor, creating a crater on the surface of the comet. Scientists believe the exposed materials may give clues to the formation of our solar system.
Triple Impact
PIA04115
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Triple Impact
Original Caption Released with Image 24 July 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a 1.5 meters per pixel (~5 ft/pixel) view of three aligned meteor impact craters on the floor of a much larger crater in the Noachis Terra region. The craters may have formed together from a single event in which the impactor (the meteor) was broken into three pieces. "Location near": 33.9°S, 10.5°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Spring
Crater Variety
PIA02298
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Crater Variety
Original Caption Released with Image Context image for PIA02298 Crater Variety This image contains several different impact craters. The elongate depression near the top of the image is formed when more than one impactor hits at the same time (a double whammy). The large crater at the bottom formed in a single impact, but was subsequently filled with material that is now being removed. Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 13.5N, Longitude 167.2E. 36 meter/pixel resolution. Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note [ http://themis.la.asu.edu/terms ] for details on crediting THEMIS images. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Crater Variety
PIA02298
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Crater Variety
Original Caption Released with Image Context image for PIA02298 Crater Variety This image contains several different impact craters. The elongate depression near the top of the image is formed when more than one impactor hits at the same time (a double whammy). The large crater at the bottom formed in a single impact, but was subsequently filled with material that is now being removed. Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 13.5N, Longitude 167.2E. 36 meter/pixel resolution. Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note [ http://themis.la.asu.edu/terms ] for details on crediting THEMIS images. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
General Description International Space Station Imagery
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The NASA Discovery Mission Deep Impact spacecraft arrives via truck from Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo. It is being taken to Astrotech Space Operations near Kennedy Space Center. Deep Impact is designed to launch a copper projectile into the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth. When this 820-pound ?impactor? hits the surface of the comet at nearly 23,000 miles per hour, the 3- by 3-foot projectile will create a crater hundreds of feet in size. Deep Impact?s flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measuring the crater?s depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determining the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch Dec. 30, 2004, aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Launch Complex 17 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Release Date 10/16/2004
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The truck carrying the NASA Discovery Mission Deep Impact spacecraft arrives from Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo. It is being taken to Astrotech Space Operations near Kennedy Space Center. Deep Impact is designed to launch a copper projectile into the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth. When this 820-pound ?impactor? hits the surface of the comet at nearly 23,000 miles per hour, the 3- by 3-foot projectile will create a crater hundreds of feet in size. Deep Impact?s flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measuring the crater?s depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determining the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch Dec. 30, 2004, aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Launch Complex 17 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Release Date 10/16/2004
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The truck carrying the NASA Discovery Mission Deep Impact spacecraft backs into the facility at Astrotech Space Operations near Kennedy Space Center. The spacecraft was transported from Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo. Deep Impact is designed to launch a copper projectile into the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth. When this 820-pound ?impactor? hits the surface of the comet at nearly 23,000 miles per hour, the 3- by 3-foot projectile will create a crater hundreds of feet in size. Deep Impact?s flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measuring the crater?s depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determining the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch Dec. 30, 2004, aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Launch Complex 17 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Release Date 10/16/2004
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the mobile service tower with a second set of three Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) is moved toward the Boeing Delta II rocket for mating. A final set of three SRBs is yet to be added. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. After releasing an impactor on a course to hit the comet?s sunlit side, Deep Impact?s flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measure the crater?s depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determine the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network.
Release Date 11/29/2004
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the third Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) of a set of three is ready to be lifted into the mobile service tower, joining two others. This is the second set of SRBs being mated to the Boeing Delta II rocket that will launch the Deep Impact spacecraft. A final set of SRBs is yet to be added. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. After releasing an impactor on a course to hit the comet?s sunlit side, Deep Impact?s flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measure the crater?s depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determine the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network.
Release Date 11/29/2004
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., workers connect a crane to the first of a second set of three Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) that will be hoisted up the mobile service tower. The SRBs will join three others already mated to the Boeing Delta II rocket that will launch the Deep Impact spacecraft. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. After releasing an impactor on a course to hit the comet?s sunlit side, Deep Impact?s flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measure the crater?s depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determine the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network.
Release Date 11/29/2004
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the second in a set of three Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) is raised to a vertical position. The SRBs will be hoisted up the mobile service tower and join three others already mated to the Boeing Delta II rocket that will launch the Deep Impact spacecraft. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. After releasing an impactor on a course to hit the comet?s sunlit side, Deep Impact?s flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measure the crater?s depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determine the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network.
Release Date 11/29/2004
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the first of a second set of three Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) arrives. Three SRBs have already been hoisted up the mobile service tower and mated to the Boeing Delta II rocket that will launch the Deep Impact spacecraft. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. After releasing an impactor on a course to hit the comet?s sunlit side, Deep Impact?s flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measure the crater?s depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determine the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network.
Release Date 11/29/2004
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., a crane begins lifting the third in a set of three Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs). The SRBs will be hoisted up the mobile service tower and join three others already mated to the Boeing Delta II rocket that will launch the Deep Impact spacecraft. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. After releasing an impactor on a course to hit the comet?s sunlit side, Deep Impact?s flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measure the crater?s depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determine the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network.
Release Date 11/29/2004
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers on Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, control the motion of the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) as it is lifted up the mobile service tower. It will be mated to the Boeing Delta II rocket, joining others for a complement of nine, to launch the Deep Impact spacecraft, scheduled for no earlier than Jan. 8, 2005. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. After releasing an impactor on a course to hit the comet?s sunlit side, Deep Impact?s flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measure the crater?s depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determine the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network.
Release Date 12/01/2004
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The mobile service tower with the final set of Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) rolls toward the Boeing Delta II rocket (in the background). The SRBs will be mated to the rocket, joining others for a complement of nine, to launch the Deep Impact spacecraft, scheduled for no earlier than Jan. 8, 2005. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. After releasing an impactor on a course to hit the comet?s sunlit side, Deep Impact?s flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measure the crater?s depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determine the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network.
Release Date 12/01/2004
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the third in the third set of Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) for the Boeing Delta II rocket launch of Deep Impact is ready to be lifted and join the other two in the mobile service tower. All three will be mated to the Delta II, joining others for a complement of nine. Launch is scheduled for no earlier than January 8, 2005. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. After releasing an impactor on a course to hit the comet?s sunlit side, Deep Impact?s flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measure the crater?s depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determine the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network.
Release Date 12/01/2004
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the first in the third set of Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) for the Boeing Delta II rocket launch of Deep Impact is raised off its transporter. It will be lifted up into the mobile service tower and mated to the Delta II, joining six others for a complement of nine. Launch is scheduled for no earlier than January 8, 2005. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. After releasing an impactor on a course to hit the comet?s sunlit side, Deep Impact?s flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measure the crater?s depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determine the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network.
Release Date 12/01/2004
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