Press Release

Deep Impact Spacecraft Pair Depart for Comet Collision

By SpaceRef Editor
January 12, 2005
Filed under , , ,
Deep Impact Spacecraft Pair Depart for Comet Collision
http://images.spaceref.com/news/2005/105201main_launch_image2.jpg

The
spacecraft pair that will give scientists their first close-up look at the
interior of a comet successfully launched today aboard a Delta II rocket from
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The Flyby and Impactor spacecraft were
launched in their nested flight configuration. After a cruise phase of
approximately six months, they will separate to prepare the Impactor for its
scheduled July 4 collision with Comet Tempel 1, 83 million miles from Earth.
Scientists estimate that both comet and spacecraft will collide at closing
speeds of approximately 23,000 miles per hour. The Impactor will likely
vaporize during impact, and the collision with the spacecraft is expected to
form a crater in the comet, possibly as large as a football stadium, and as
deep as 14-stories. Scientists will observe the event via the Flyby’s onboard
instruments.

The structure of the surface of comets is unknown and could range from a
hard, icy crust to thin and fragile ice held together by organic, sticky
substances. Deep Impact is the first mission to make contact with a comet’s
surface, but instead of landing a spacecraft on Tempel 1, the spacecraft will
make a crater in the large comet to reveal what is underneath the surface.

Scientists are excited about the prospect of their first view of the core
of a comet. Comets contain, in a frozen, well-preserved environment, the
interstellar materials that were present at the time our solar system was
formed. Comets are gaining interest as a new exploration target because they
are believed to have brought the organic materials necessary for life to
develop on Earth, which was once a hostile planet with high temperatures and a
poisonous atmosphere.

Scientists also expect to learn how comets were formed from the Deep
Impact data. Whether the icy objects were created one layer at a time, or all
at once by a single event, will provide clues about how planets and smaller
bodies form from interstellar materials. Comets are one of the few objects in
the solar system that contain intact, materials from the formation of the
solar system.

Deep Impact’s telescopes, cameras and spectrometer aboard the Flyby
spacecraft will witness the impact from a vantage point of about 300 miles and
return data on the pristine material in the crater, and the material ejected
by the impact. The High Resolution Imager aboard the Flyby spacecraft, the
largest interplanetary telescope ever flown, will record the details of the
collision. The Impactor spacecraft will also provide close-encounter photos
of the comet just prior to impact, giving scientists the most complete view of
a comet to date.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in association with the University of
Maryland and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), developed and integrated the
Flyby spacecraft, the Impactor spacecraft, and science instruments, including
three telescopes, three cameras and a spectrometer for analyzing the interior
of the comet. Deep Impact is the eighth mission in NASA’s Discovery Program,
and the first mission to attempt impact with a comet nucleus in an effort to
probe beneath its surface.

For more information about Deep Impact, please visit:

Ball Corporation is a supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging
products and innovative packaging solutions to the beverage and food
industries. The company also owns Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., which
develops sensors, spacecraft, systems and components for government and
commercial markets. Ball employs 13,100 people worldwide and reported 2003
sales of $4.9 billion.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information in this news release contains “forward-looking” statements
and other statements concerning future events and financial performance.
Words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” and variations of such
words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from
those expressed or implied. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. Key risks and uncertainties are
summarized in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, especially in Exhibit 99.2 in the most recent Form 10-K. These
filings are available at the company’s website and at www.sec.gov. Factors
that might affect the packaging segments of the company include fluctuation in
consumer and customer demand; competitive packaging material availability,
pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; fruit, vegetable and
fishing yields; industry productive capacity and competitive activity; lack of
productivity improvement or production cost reductions; the German mandatory
deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; availability and cost of raw
materials, such as resin, steel and aluminum, and the ability to pass on to
customers changes in these costs; changes in major customer contracts or the
loss of a major customer; international business risks, such as foreign
exchange rates and tax rates; and the effect of LIFO accounting on earnings.
Factors that might affect the aerospace segment include: funding,
authorization and availability of government contracts and the nature and
continuation of those contracts; and technical uncertainty associated with
segment contracts. Factors that could affect the company as a whole include
those listed plus: successful and unsuccessful acquisitions, joint ventures or
divestitures and associated integration activities; regulatory action or laws
including environmental and workplace safety; goodwill impairment; antitrust
and other litigation; strikes; boycotts; increases in various employee
benefits and labor costs; rates of return projected and earned on assets of
the company’s defined benefit retirement plans; reduced cash flow; and
interest rates affecting our debt.

SpaceRef staff editor.