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[MIMIC]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A NASA spacecraft with a Hollywood name — Deep Impact — blasted off Wednesday on a mission to smash a hole in a comet and give scientists a glimpse of the frozen primordial ingredients of the solar system.

With a launch window only one second long, Deep Impact rocketed away at the designated moment on a six-month, 268-million-mile (429 million-kilometer) journey to Comet Tempel 1. It will be a one-way trip that NASA hopes will reach a cataclysmic end on the Fourth of July.

[...]

In July, the mission plan calls for a mother ship the size of an SUV is to release a copper-sheathed, TV-sized impactor right into the path of the comet. Scientists are counting on the impactor to blast a crater in Comet Tempel 1 that could swallow the Roman Colosseum.

It would be humans’ first look into the heart of a comet, a celestial snowball still containing the original building blocks of the sun and the planets.

Because of the relative speed of the two objects at the moment of impact — 23,000 mph (36,800 kilometers per hour) — no explosives are needed for the job. The force of the smashup will be equivalent to 4.5 tons of TNT, creating a flash that just might be visible in the dark sky by the naked eye in one spectacular Fourth of July fireworks display.

Nothing like this has ever been attempted before.

[...]

The comet will be more than 80 million miles (128 million kilometers) from Earth when the collision takes place — on the sunlit side of the comet, NASA hopes, in order to ensure good viewing by spacecraft cameras and observatories. The resulting crater is expected to be two to 14 stories deep, and perhaps 300 feet (90 meters) in diameter.

MSNBC/AP

Can't wait.

 

[Shogmaster]

At least it's Deep Impact and not Armageddon it's imitating. :lol

Oh wait, Deep Impact doesn't end all that well for us earthlings, does it?

 

[Willco]

Best NASA project EVER.

 

[MrPing1000]

obviously preparing for the rock thats going to hit us in 2029 or whatever year it is. What happened to that? The odds were cut to 43 to 1 then things went quiet

 

[Manabanana]

How are they going to see what's inside if they're just smashing a hole in it? Sounds like a stupid excuse to smash a hole in a comet. If that's the case, I approve.

 

[Wellington]

http://forums.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=25452

 

[akascream]

Haha, this is the coolest thing evar.

 

[Ghost]

Now this is why space is cool, you can launch junk at other junk much faster without a pesky atmosphere, i say we need more missions to make impressively large craters in objects millions of miles away.

 

[belgurdo]

 

[Cherubae]

I hope the comet doesn't hold some form of small life; imagine if you were just floating around on your comet-planet and suddenly ran into an object that was purposly placed there by another planet

poor comet

(or maybe a comet is holding a large eggsack filled with little alien babies and the mom gets pissed that we ruptured it's shell.. oh ho ho..... I am so bored at work today...)

 

[fallout]

Actually, the funny thingis, they're just going to drive the probe in front of the comet and let the comet smash into it. So technically, poor probe.

 

[BuG]

Awesome. I completely forgot about it until now, but a couple of years ago I added my name and the names of my family to the CD-ROM which is going to be on this Deep Impact thing, I can't wait until I smash the shit out of that comet! I've lost the certificate they sent in an e-mail but it'll still be fun.

http://www.tourbus.com/A111803-Send_Your_Name_to_a_Comet.htmlWell, not to be left out, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is also offering you the opportunity to add your name to a CD-ROM destined for spaceflight. This time, the CD-ROM will be onboard a spacecraft that will crash into Comet Temple 1 on July 4th, 2005. And, no, that "crash" line isn't a jab at NASA. The goal of JPL's Deep Impact project is to crash a 370 kg (820 pound) mass -- including the CD-ROM -- into the Comet Temple 1 in order to

1. Make a really, really big hole. 2. Observe how that hole forms 3. Measure the hole's depth and diameter 4. Measure the composition of the interior of the crater and the stuff that gets blown out into space. 5. Determine how the hole changes the comet's tail.

edit: Oh snap! They still have the certificates on NASA's website. I'm gonna blow up a comet, ma! Woo!

 

[Dujour]

At least it's Deep Impact and not Armageddon it's imitating. :lol

Oh wait, Deep Impact doesn't end all that well for us earthlings, does it?

It was only bad for the elderly, I think. Mars Attacks though... that was tragedy.

 

[MrPing1000]

It was only bad for the elderly, I think. Mars Attacks though... that was tragedy.

danny devito deserved it

 

[cubicle47b]

What are the chances of this actually working?