Deep Impact in trouble: last heard from August 8

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla

2013/09/04 01:10 CDT

Topics: mission status, Deep Impact

A terse update on the status of the aging Deep Impact spacecraft was posted on the mission website this morning:

We have not received any of our expected observations of comet ISON due to a spacecraft problem. Communication with the spacecraft was lost some time between August 11 and August 14 (we only talk to the spacecraft about once per week). The last communication was on August 8. After considerable effort, the team on August 30 determined the cause of the problem. The team is now trying to determine how best to try to recover communication.

As long as controllers are communicating with a spacecraft, there is hope. When they are not in communication with a spacecraft, that's pretty scary. Good luck to the Deep Impact team on recovering the spacecraft for a future comet or asteroid encounter. It's a great little mission.

Tip of the hat to Amy Mainzer.

NASA / JPL

Deep Impact

The Deep Impact Mission is officially over

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/09/20 11:10 CDT | 1 comments

Efforts to regain contact with Deep Impact have been ended. The last contact with the spacecraft was on August 8, 2013.

Still no contact with Deep Impact

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/09/10 06:59 CDT | 4 comments

Oh, that dreaded phrase, "mission status report." It sounds so neutral, but it almost always means bad news. In this case, it's really bad: Deep Impact is not communicating with Earth.

Interplanetary eyes on the lookout for comet ISON

Posted by Daniel Fischer on 2013/08/09 02:15 CDT

Space blogger Daniel Fischer provides a preview of the exciting interplanetary observing campaign that has recently begun to study comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) from vantage points across the solar system.

New Deep Impact Hartley 2 data set

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/03 09:59 CDT | 7 comments

Just messing around with a recently released processed version of the Deep Impact Hartley 2 data set.

The Moon transiting Earth, as seen from Deep Impact

Pretty picture: a moon transit

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/02/21 05:52 CST | 5 comments

A reader comment inspired me to dig up an oldie but a goodie: a sequence of photos of the Moon transiting Earth, seen from a very long way away,

Venerable Deep Impact spacecraft has photographed comet ISON

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/02/05 05:24 CST | 6 comments

Deep Impact has made the first space-based observations of comet ISON.

Asteroids and comets visited by spacecraft as of December 2012, in color, excepting Vesta

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/12/18 04:26 CST | 9 comments

My collage of all the asteroids and comets visited by spacecraft is probably the single most popular image I have ever posted on this blog. I've now updated it to be in color and to include Toutatis.

Deep Impact targets possible 2020 asteroid flyby

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/05 12:28 CDT | 3 comments

Yesterday, Deep Impact performed a trajectory correction maneuver, firing its thrusters to line up for a flyby seven years from now. Here's a preview of that encounter.

What's up in the Solar System in August 2012

Posted by Jason Davis on 2012/08/03 06:03 CDT

Welcome to the monthly roundup of our solar system's envoy of electronic explorers! All eyes are on Curiosity as it approaches Mars this weekend. Who will lend support at the Red Planet?

A little fun with Deep Impact deep-sky data

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/11/14 05:44 CST

Last week, the team put all of the data from Deep Impact's deep-sky imaging session online, and challenged visitors to see what they could make from it. I made some photos of M51, but there were some challenges.