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Exciting Times Ahead: 2010 Will Sizzle, and 2011 Will Really Cook!
Posted by Alan Stern on 2009/05/18 03:56 CDT
Today, I'm kicking the week off with a look at the unusually intense confluence of far flung planetary exploration that's just around the corner, starting the middle of next year.
A lack of information for a Deep Impact update
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/08/24 08:00 CDT
I had very much hoped to be able to post an update about the Deep Impact mission this week, but it looks like my various sources are keeping very very quiet (or maybe they are just tired of me pestering them :)
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/28 09:28 CDT
We haven't forgotten about Deep Impact, but there's still no word on the crater size.
Deep Impact Sets a New Course as Tempel 1 Returns to Normal
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/20 05:53 CDT
With its mission at Tempel 1 over, the Deep Impact spacecraft has altered its course in order to allow a future mission at another comet.
Deep Impact Data Surprises Scientists
Posted by A.J.S. Rayl on 2005/07/12 11:00 CDT
When Deep Impact crashed into the nucleus of Tempel 1 at 23,000 miles per hour on July 4, it sent a huge, bright cloud of stuff upward and outward from the comet, providing a spectacular image that is already assured a place in the space history books, and may well be seared into the brains of all those who watched the event.
Another gorgeous Deep Impact image
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/06 04:51 CDT
The team has just released a really pretty high-resolution view of Tempel 1 just 67 seconds after the impact.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/05 09:40 CDT
So yesterday, after covering the Deep Impact press conference at JPL and recording for Planetary Radio, my husband and I drove to his parents' house for an Independence Day barbeque. When I explained the nature of the Deep Impact mission my mother-in-law exclaimed, "What! What gives you the right to go around smashing up a comet that was minding its own business?"
Rockin' to Bill Haley and his Comets
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/05 05:55 CDT
There was a stage set up on the steps of the administration building, and the quad in front of it was filled with JPLers of all ages and descriptions. Rick Grammier and Don Yeomans introduced the band -- five guys, all members of the band since 1953 or earlier, still rockin' and rollin'.
News: Deep Impact Delivers the Science; Years of Work Ahead for Science Team
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/04 02:21 CDT
"Our cratering experiment went very very well," reported impact scientist Peter Schultz in what may have been the understatement of the weekend. A first look at early science results from the mission suggest that while some events unfolded according to scientists' predictions, Tempel 1 provided many enticing surprises as well.
Notes from the morning-after press conference
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/04 10:55 CDT
Here in Von Karman auditorium at JPL, as they get ready for the press conference, they are playing "Rock Around the Clock," by Bill Haley and His Comets. Very appropriate! The press panel is mostly familiar: Andy Danztler, Rick Grammier, Shyam Bhaskaran, Mike A'Hearn, and Pete Schultz.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/04 10:47 CDT
It looks like the European Space Agency was busy overnight -- lots of great Earth- and space- based images of the impact have been appearing on various websites.
Deep Impact Comet Crash Produces Great Big Comet Flash
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/04 02:08 CDT
The Deep Impact mission seems to have produced an impact crash beyond the expectations, but not the hopes, of the science team.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/04 01:45 CDT
Live blog from the press room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as Deep Impact's Impactor meets its fate at the comet....
A couple of notes on the Deep Impact images
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/03 12:29 CDT
After the press conference I asked Mike A'Hearn a couple of questions about the raw images we're seeing online.
Quotes from Deep Impact "Pre-Impact Update" press conference at JPL
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/03 12:09 CDT
The panel consists of: Andy Danztler, Solar System Division Director at NASA HQ; Rick Grammier, Deep Impact Project Manager, JPL; Jennifer Rocca, Deep Impact Systems Engineer, JPL; and Mike A'Hearn, Principal Investigator, University of Maryland.
The Deep Impactor is safely on its way!
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/03 08:49 CDT
I woke this morning to find a press release in my Inbox that said: "One hundred and seventy-one days into its 172-day journey to comet Tempel 1, NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft successfully released its impactor at 11:07 p.m. Saturday, Pacific Daylight Time," or 06:07 UTC.
Deep Impact On Course for Comet Crash; Mission Is Already Producing Science Returns
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/01 04:42 CDT
NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft is set for its date with Comet Tempel 1. "We are going to hit a bullet with another bullet while watching from a third bullet," said Charles Elachi, the head of JPL.
Deep Impact encounter minus 3 days
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/01 11:45 CDT
OK, I'm in...I arrived at an unusually empty Jet Propulsion Laboratory this morning in advance of the first Deep Impact encounter press conference.
Changes to the Deep Impact encounter timeline
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/06/30 05:13 CDT
A reader has pointed out that JPL has changed their online press kit for Deep Impact, which was my primary source material for the encounter timeline.
News: All of Earth's Eyes Are on Tempel 1 as Deep Impact Zeroes In on Comet...
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/06/29 02:20 CDT
With four days remaining until Deep Impact crashes into comet Tempel 1, the comet is looming larger and larger in the public view.
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