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EPOXI
''EPOXI'' was a compilation of NASA Discovery program missions led by the University of Maryland and principal investigator Michael A'Hearn, with co-operation from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Ball Aerospace. ''EPOXI'' uses the '' Deep Impact'' spacecraft in a campaign consisting of two missions: the ''Deep Impact Extended Investigation'' (DIXI) and ''Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization'' (EPOCh). ''DIXI'' aimed to send the ''Deep Impact'' spacecraft on a flyby of another comet, after its primary mission was completed in July 2005, while ''EPOCh'' saw the spacecraft's photographic instruments as a space observatory, studying extrasolar planets. ''DIXI'' successfully sent the ''Deep Impact'' spacecraft on a flyby of comet Hartley 2 on November 4, 2010, revealing a "hyperactive, small and feisty" comet, after three gravity assists from Earth in December 2007, December 2008 and June 2010. The ''DIXI'' mission was not without problems, however; the spacecraft had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deep Impact (spacecraft)
''Deep Impact'' was a NASA space probe launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on January 12, 2005. It was designed to study the interior composition of the comet Tempel 1 (9P/Tempel), by releasing an impactor into the comet. At 05:52 UTC on July 4, 2005, the Impactor successfully collided with the comet's nucleus. The impact excavated debris from the interior of the nucleus, forming an impact crater. Photographs taken by the spacecraft showed the comet to be more dusty and less icy than had been expected. The impact generated an unexpectedly large and bright dust cloud, obscuring the view of the impact crater. Previous space missions to comets, such as ''Giotto'', ''Deep Space 1'', and '' Stardust'', were fly-by missions. These missions were able to photograph and examine only the surfaces of cometary nuclei, and even then from considerable distances. The ''Deep Impact'' mission was the first to eject material from a comet's surface, and the mission garnered considerabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
103P/Hartley
Comet Hartley 2, designated as 103P/Hartley by the Minor Planet Center, is a small periodic comet with an orbital period of 6.46 years. It was discovered by Malcolm Hartley in 1986 at the Schmidt Telescope Unit, Siding Spring Observatory, Australia. Its diameter is estimated to be . Hartley 2 was the target of a flyby of the Deep Impact spacecraft, as part of the EPOXI mission, on 4 November 2010, which was able to approach within of Hartley 2 as part of its extended mission. Hartley 2 is the smallest comet which has been visited. It is the fifth comet visited by spacecraft, and the second comet visited by the Deep Impact spacecraft, which first visited comet Tempel 1 on 4 July 2005. Discovery and orbit Comet Hartley 2 is a small Jupiter-family comet having an orbital period of 6.46 years. It was discovered by Malcolm Hartley in 1986 at the Schmidt Telescope Unit, Siding Spring Observatory, Australia. It has the perihelion near the Earth's orbit at 1.05 AU from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
85D/Boethin
Comet Boethin (officially 85D/Boethin) was a periodic Jupiter-family comet discovered in 1975 by Leo Boethin. It appeared again in January 1986 as expected. Although the comet was next expected at perihelion in April 1997, no observations were reported, and the comet is thought to have disintegrated. It has not been observed since March 1986. The comet might have come to perihelion in late July 2020, but the uncertainty in the comet's position is hundreds of millions of km. The old orbit would have the comet next coming to perihelion around November 2031. Discovery circumstances The comet was discovered under unusual circumstances. Comet 85D/Boethin was the first comet discovered by an observer in the Philippines. Leo Boethin (1912-1998), who was assigned as Reverend of the Abra province in 1949, had taken advantage of the exceptionally dark skies of Luzon to observe comets and meteor showers. In January 1973, he found his first suspected comet at magnitude 9.5, but he saw it f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flyby (spaceflight)
A flyby () is a spaceflight operation in which a spacecraft passes in proximity to another body, usually a target of its space exploration mission and/or a source of a gravity assist to impel it towards another target. Spacecraft which are specifically designed for this purpose are known as flyby spacecraft, although the term has also been used in regard to asteroid flybys of Earth for example. Important parameters are the time and distance of closest approach. Spacecraft flyby Flyby maneuvers can be conducted with a planet, a natural satellite or a non-planetary object such as a small Solar System body. Planetary flybys have occurred with Mars or Earth for example: * List of Earth flybys * Mars flyby An example of a comet flyby is when International Cometary Explorer (formerly ISEE-3) passed about from the nucleus of Comet Giacobini-Zinner in September 1985. Another application of the flyby is of Earth's Moon, usually called a lunar flyby. The Apollo 13 spacecraft had an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael A'Hearn
Michael Francis A'Hearn (November 17, 1940 – May 29, 2017) was an American astronomer and astronomy professor at the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. He was also the principal investigator for NASA's EPOXI mission. Career He received his B.A. in science at Boston College and his Ph.D. in Astronomy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was the principal investigator for the NASA '' Deep Impact'' mission. He aided in the development of systems for surveying abundances in comets as well as techniques for determining the sizes of cometary nuclei which uses optical and infrared measurements. His studies focused on comets as well as asteroids and he also supervises numerous graduate students. He was an elected fellow of the AAAS. He authored over 100 papers published in journals and was also an avid sailor who had a commercial coast guard license. In June 1986, the main-belt asteroid 3192 A'Hearn, discovered by American ast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA and managed by the nearby California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The laboratory's primary function is the construction and operation of planetary robotic spacecraft, though it also conducts Earth-orbit and astronomy missions. It is also responsible for operating the NASA Deep Space Network. Among the laboratory's major active projects are the Mars 2020 mission, which includes the '' Perseverance'' rover and the '' Ingenuity'' Mars helicopter; the Mars Science Laboratory mission, including the '' Curiosity'' rover; the InSight lander (''Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport''); the ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter''; the '' Juno'' spacecraft orbiting Jupiter; the '' SMAP'' satellite for earth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apollo Asteroid
The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s. They are Earth-crossing asteroids that have an orbital semi-major axis greater than that of the Earth (a > 1 AU) but perihelion distances less than the Earth's aphelion distance (q < 1.017 AU). , the number of known Apollo asteroids is 10,485, making the class the largest group of s (''cf''. the , and [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moon Mineralogy Mapper
The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) is one of two instruments that NASA contributed to India's first mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-1, launched October 22, 2008. It is an imaging spectrometer, and the team is led by Principal investigator Carle Pieters of Brown University, and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Description M3 is an imaging spectrometer that provided the first high-resolution spatial and spectral map of the entire lunar surface, revealing the minerals of which it is made. This information will both provide clues to the early development of the Solar System and guide future astronauts to stores of precious resources. This instrument is a Discovery Program "Mission of Opportunity" (a NASA-designed instrument on board another space agency's spacecraft). Chandrayaan-1 operated for 312 days as opposed to the intended two years but the mission achieved many of its planned objectives. M3 was used to map over 95% of the lunar surface in its low-resolution Gl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
(163249) 2002 GT
(163249) 2002 GT is an Apollo asteroid with an absolute magnitude of 18.26. It is a potentially hazardous asteroid as its orbit crosses that of Earth.Stephen Clark"Deep Impact sets path for asteroid encounter in 2020" ''Spaceflight Now''. 18 December 2011. Description In 2011, NASA considered sending the unmanned spacecraft '' Deep Impact'' toward the asteroid with the aim of performing a flyby in 2020. It was uncertain whether ''Deep Impact'' carried sufficient fuel for this operation. On 24 November 2011 and 4 October 2012, the space probe's thrusters were fired briefly for two trajectory correction maneuvers that targeted Deep Impact for an encounter with 2002 GT in 2020, possibly within a distance of no more than 400 kilometers. However, funding for the flyby mission was not guaranteed.Emily Lakdawalla blog entry"Deep Impact targets possible 2020 asteroid flyby" 5 October 2012. In June 2013 the asteroid was observed in radar by the Arecibo Observatory. However, on 8 Aug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spectrometer
A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomenon where the spectral components are somehow mixed. In visible light a spectrometer can separate white light and measure individual narrow bands of color, called a spectrum. A mass spectrometer measures the spectrum of the masses of the atoms or molecules present in a gas. The first spectrometers were used to split light into an array of separate colors. Spectrometers were developed in early studies of physics, astronomy, and chemistry. The capability of spectroscopy to determine chemical composition drove its advancement and continues to be one of its primary uses. Spectrometers are used in astronomy to analyze the chemical composition of stars and planets, and spectrometers gather data on the origin of the universe. Examples of spectrometer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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