Associated Press
People gather to watch, on a large screen, the comet Tempel 1 collide with a NASA space probe in Honolulu, Sunday, July 3, 2005. The probe was bearing down on its comet target Sunday in a suicide mission scientists hoped would provide new insight into the origins of the solar system.
Nasa probe impacts Comet Tempel 1
One of the first images to come through from the Deep Impact spacecraft
US space agency (Nasa) scientists were jubilant on Monday as they sent a probe crashing into the heart of a comet.
The washing machine-sized 372kg "impactor" smashed into Comet Tempel 1 right on cue just after 0550 GMT, to throw up a huge plume of icy debris.
The 37,000km/h collision was expected to create a large crater in the comet.
The probe's mothership, the Deep Impact spacecraft, watched from a safe distance, sending images back to Earth.
Comets - giant "dirty snowballs", as some have called them - are believed to contain materials that have remained largely unchanged since the formation of the Solar System 4.6 billion years ago.
Scientists hope that by getting "under the skin" of comet Tempel 1, they can gain new information on the Solar System's original composition and perhaps even how life emerged in our corner of the Universe.
Dr Charles Elachi, director of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which has overseen the mission, was ecstatic. "From the beginning, I said this was one of the most daring missions and now we have success," he said.
"We are in the business of opening new frontiers in the exploration of space. When we analyse the data, we will have a whole new insight into the Universe."
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Deep Impact spacecraft's probe collides with comet
By Alicia Chang
ASSOCIATED PRESS
11:16 p.m. July 3, 2005
PASADENA – A space probe hit its comet target late Sunday in a NASA-directed, Hollywood-style mission that scientists hope will reveal clues to how the solar system formed.
It marked the first time a spacecraft touched the surface of a comet, igniting a dazzling Independence Day weekend fireworks display in space.
The successful strike 83 million miles away from Earth occurred just before 11 p.m. PDT, according to mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, which is managing the $333 million mission.
Scientists at mission control erupted in applause and gave each other hugs as news of the impact spread.
Dalje
Mission Accomplished: Probe Hits Comet
By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer
PASADENA, Calif. - A space probe hit its comet target late Sunday in a
NASA-directed, Hollywood-style mission that scientists hope will reveal clues to how the solar system formed.
It marked the first time a spacecraft touched the surface of a comet, igniting a dazzling Independence Day weekend fireworks display in space.
The successful strike 83 million miles away from Earth occurred just before 11 p.m. PDT, according to mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, which is managing the $333 million mission.
Scientists at mission control erupted in applause and gave each other hugs as news of the impact spread.
Dalje
COMET'S BIG HIT SUCCESS
Hollywood science fiction has become science fact after the NASA mission Deep Impact achieved its goal on US Independence Day.
The Deep Impact probe, barely bigger than a washing machine, smashed into a distant comet in an attempt to unlock the secrets of the Universe.
Comet, Temple 1, was thought to have an icy surface and NASA's aim was to see what lies beneath its frozen surface.
The comet was 83 million miles away from earth at the time of collision.
Despite the probe being small, it was expected to leave a crater roughly the size of a football stadium when it smashed into its target at a speed of 23,000mph.
The explosion caused by the impact was equivalent to detonating more than five tonnes of TNT.
One scientist on the mission said: "In the world of science, this is the astronomical equivalent of a 767 airliner running into a mosquito."
Deep Impact had 13 minutes to film images from 310 miles away before being hit by a blizzard of dust and rock from the smash.
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