7/1/2005: NASA's Deep Impact
You saw that movie, right? The one where President Morgan Freeman sent some astronauts to blow up a comet before it blew up the planet? Well, it's happening for real on Monday.. yep, that's right, the 4th of July will have extraterrestrial fireworks this year.
That's when NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft concludes a six-month, 268 million mile voyage to comet Tempel 1 by sending a washing machine-sized probe into the comet at 23,000 mph. Unlike the movie version, we aren't in danger of a reverse scenario, but the hope is that the probe will find out some cool stuff about comets from the inside that we didn't know before (or, as CNN dramatically puts it, "Scientists hope the collision will reveal the comet's nucleus, which holds the frozen primordial ingredients of the solar system." The crash may produce a spectacular explosion visible with binoculars, or it may just go pfffft.. we'll know soon enough.
Of course there will be live video of the event. The main spacecraft will release the washing machine err.. probe on Sunday, and 24 hours later it will plow into the comet. It will all be viewable via webcast and highlights will probably run on the evening news, just after the weather and clips of 4-year-olds at a local parade or fireworks display. If you're hungry for more, here are your clicks:
Live video of the crash hosted by Sonic Foundry and Vanderbilt University begins July 4 just prior to the collision, scheduled for 1:52 am Eastern (that's still Sunday night for westies). An archive of the event will remain online for 30 days. (The link is currently generating an error message - maybe it will work when the time is here.
NASA's Deep Impact site has a countdown, news, updates, tech stuff, and all the mission and comet info you'll ever need. Of course there's a ton of other fun stuff on the NASA site too - click around.
NASA TV also has video that begins today! Find it on digital, satellite, cable, or on the web.
NASA TV can also be found on this page (June 14's cam du jour, remember?) which has 14 other cams at Kennedy Space Center that are getting active: the shuttle is getting ready to go up there on July 13, in the first manned flight since the Challenger disaster.
Enjoy.
