Deep Impact On Track For Comet Encounter
6.23.05
The Deep Impact spacecraft successfully performed the mission's third trajectory correction maneuver on Thursday. The 13.4 mile-per-hour velocity change further refined the vehicle's flight path for its high-speed comet encounter on July 4.
This was the first maneuver to target to the desired time of impact with comet Tempel-1: 4-July-2005 05:44:34 UTC. If it is needed, the next maneuver will occur at 00:00:00 UTC on July 3 (30 hours prior to impact).
This image shows comet Tempel 1 as seen by the Deep Impact spacecraft on June 20, 2005. It was taken using the clear filter of the spacecraft's medium resolution imager camera. The spacecraft was 7,738,240 miles away from the comet. Four images were combined together to create this picture, and a logarithmic stretch was applied to enhance the coma of the comet. The object to the right of the comet is a star.
|
