This Independance Day, NASA Will Celebrate With a Bang!

[Techie2000]

http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/

The goal of this guy is to create a deep crater in Comet Tempel 1 so they can study what's below the surface. Supposedly, in addition to being visible from the probe itself, and the hubble telescope, the blast should be visible to anyone with a telescope. Hopefully all goes well.

[Piobaireachd]

http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/

The goal of this guy is to create a deep crater in Comet Tempel 1 so they can study what's below the surface. Supposedly, in addition to being visible from the probe itself, and the hubble telescope, the blast should be visible to anyone with a telescope. Hopefully all goes well. A-ha! An excuse to get that 10" Dob. Now to just convince the wife....

[Coot]

Dateline October 2089

Comet Tempel, will impact the eastern seaboard of the United States on December 9, 2089. The comet, which was once in a steady, albeit eccentric orbit, had its orbit altered in a NASA science experiment on January 12, 2005.

[Frodo Lives]

Dateline October 2089

Comet Tempel, will impact the eastern seaboard of the United States on December 9, 2089. The comet, which was once in a steady, albeit eccentric orbit, had its orbit altered in a NASA science experiment on January 12, 2005.


NASA plans on dealing with the situation by denying that it was ever near the comet at the time. In a press release, NASA spokesperson Hillery Clinton Kerry II stated "NASA was in Cambodia at the time."

[ShinyTop]

Dateline October 2089

Comet Tempel, will impact the eastern seaboard of the United States on December 9, 2089. The comet, which was once in a steady, albeit eccentric orbit, had its orbit altered in a NASA science experiment on January 12, 2005.


NASA in a defense released today said they did not think they could actually hit it. They were using MPH when they thought the probe was programmed in KPH but their thought was in error and it was really MPH. They don't know how they could have gotten it right in hitting a small asteroid and wrong when traveling to a planet. :doh:

[Copzilla]

In another release, however, NASA announced that the experiment was highly successful, finding out that the comet was in fact made of ice and dust. How verification of that knowledge was beneficial to mankind at all, at the cost of 478 million dollars, was unclear. But a senior NASA official, commenting under the condition of anonymity, said "We just thought it would be fun. Besides, it's not just ice and dust, it's SPACE ice and dust, so STFU."

[MorWired]

In another release, however, NASA announced that the experiment was highly successful, finding out that the comet was in fact made of ice and dust. How verification of that knowledge was beneficial to mankind at all, at the cost of 478 million dollars, was unclear. But a senior NASA official, commenting under the condition of anonymity, said "We just thought it would be fun. Besides, it's not just ice and dust, it's SPACE ice and dust, so STFU."Actually, cometary ice is one of the theories for water on Mars and life on Earth -- finding out more isn't nearly as silly as it seems. :)

Besides, the fun is in the learning. But even so we have made all kinds of advances here on earth in our effort to find our way around space. In the long run, it's all for the greater good.

[RetFireCapt]

Yeah, baby. Tang!

Then there's that story of how NASA spent 10 years and a couple of hundred million in research to come up with an ink pen that could write in the vacuum of space.

The Russians used a pencil.

[MorWired]

Yeah, baby. Tang!

Then there's that story of how NASA spent 10 years and a couple of hundred million in research to come up with an ink pen that could write in the vacuum of space.

The Russians used a pencil.Aw c'mon, you know it's a ton of useful stuff (like velcro and teflon) and all kinds of medical and scientific research and advances. And let's not forget freeze-dried ice-cream. :)

[RetFireCapt]

I realize that. I love the space program. I just needed a setup for that Russian pencil story.

[MorWired]

I realize that. I love the space program. I just needed a setup for that Russian pencil story.Well, honey, you know I'm always glad to serve as your straight-girl. Happy to oblige. :love: :happy: ;)

[Techie2000]

Thankfully that story is false (http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp) and the space pen's development didn't cost the tax payers a dime.

[joseftu]

This is a great project--will give lots of new information about the early days of our solar system. A wonderful use of taxpayer money, far better than some of the garbage we throw it away on.

There's a possibility that if this impact creates as much dust and vapor as they think, the comet's going to be naked-eye visible for a little while after the impact!
:)

[MorWired]

There's a possibility that if this impact creates as much dust and vapor as they think, the comet's going to be naked-eye visible for a little while after the impact!
:)Cool. That's reason enough to do it right there. I saw the Hale Bopp or Kyakutake (I've got the writeup in the paper saved somewhere) about 10 years ago -- that was almost transcendental. Un-freaking-believable. My great aunt was telling me at the time that when she was a little girl her father rushed her and her sister (my grandmother) outside to watch Halley's Comet, and that that sight and that feeling was something she never forgot, and she was in her 80s at the time she was telling me this. :)