DEEP NEWS Newsletter for the Deep Impact Mission Issue 3, September 2003
Welcome to Deep News. You are one of over 8,000 people who signed up
to hear all the latest news on the Deep Impact mission. This mission
is the first to look deep beneath the surface of a comet by making a
crater the size of a football stadium. For more information, visit
the Deep Impact web site at http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov.
SCIENCE UPDATE WITH PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR DR. MIKE A’HEARN
Dr. Mike A’Hearn writes to us again from the University of Maryland
with the latest mission updates.
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/update-200309.html
MEET LORNA HESS-FREY
When she was a kid, she thought she would grow up to take care of big
animals instead of big spacecraft. When she isn’t designing the
spacecraft’s structural components, you might find her backpacking
or skiing down a slope. Meet Lorna Hess-Frey.
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/bio-lhessfrey.html
NEW SPACE PLACE ACTIVITY FOR KIDS!
Deep Impact launches new fun facts for kids through NASA Space
Place.
Check out http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/deepimpact/deepimpact.htm
and find out why the Deep Impact mission is a little like a
collision on a freeway.
PICTURE THIS – WHERE ARE SPACECRAFT BUILT?
This month we feature a 360 degree view of the clean room at Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp where both the flyby spacecraft and
the impactor are being built. Take a look at
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/mov-360view1.html
COMET BRAIN TWISTER
Okay – it’s your job to convince yourself and your team mates that
the camera on Deep Impact’s two spacecraft actually work as
expected. How will you do that? Consider your own camera. If it’s
brand new, how would you test it?
Here are your clues:
– Your cameras will end up in space so what should your testing area
be like?
– What kinds of precautions would you take with any expensive piece
of equipment before you begin testing?
– Take a guess at how you would test your own camera both to make
sure it works and also to see if there are any problems. What do all
the parts do?
– Since this is a space camera, what kinds of people will you want
around you to help with the testing?
For the answers, visit
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/disczone/braintwist-mission3a.html
FOR EDUCATORS: NASA SPECIAL AWARD TO DEEP IMPACT MODULE.
NASA Office of Space Science has identified "Collaborative Decision
Making" as an outstanding representation of Earth and space science
education material. McREL designed this module that gives students
the opportunity to meet the challenges of collaborating as a team to
put a successful mission into space. The challenges are real and
current for the Deep Impact science team. It provides inquiry,
problem solving and team work. We have been invited to present the
unit at a national training session. See
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/collaborative_ed_module/index.html
QUESTIONS FROM YOU: WHY IMPACT A COMET? THE DEEPER YOU GO, THE MORE
YOU KNOW!
Beneath the Earth’s crust are many layers that change as you go
deeper toward the core. Scientists are curious to know what lies
beneath the surface of a comet. Is it similar to or compositionally
different from its surface? Are there layers and is the outer layer
hard like a crust? Only an impact mission can study the inside of a
comet. The material deep beneath the surface probably hasn’t changed
as has the comet surface so we may see more pristine material
providing clues about the formation of the solar
system.
See: http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/science/objectives.html
SEND YOUR NAME TO A COMET!
If you haven’t joined the over 270,000 people who have registered to
have their name put on the side of the impactor that will make a
huge crater in Comet Tempel 1, check out
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/sendyourname/index.html and sign up
before it’s too late. We’ve provided an email with information you
can send to your friends so they can sign up too at
http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/sendyourname/whatis.html#email
DID YOU SEE OUR PAST DEEP NEWS ISSUES?
Visit http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/update-archive.html to
catch up on exciting past news from the Deep Impact mission.
The Deep Impact mission is a partnership among the University of
Maryland (UMD), the California Institute of Technology’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp
(BATC). Deep Impact is a NASA Discovery mission, eighth in a series
of low-cost, highly focused space science investigations.
See http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov
or our mirror site at
