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Deep Impact's launcher begins to take shape BY JUSTIN RAY SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: November 22, 2004 The Delta launch team at Cape Canaveral had little time to rest after Saturday's successful liftoff of NASA's Swift observatory as the crew begin erecting another rocket Monday that will dispatch an extraordinary mission to Comet Tempel 1 on December 30. The $320 million Deep Impact mission will rendezvous with the comet on July 4 and fire an 820-pound copper bullet into the heart of Tempel 1, carving out a stadium-sized crater. Sophisticated instruments and cameras on the Deep Impact's mothership will record the blast and analyze the materials excavated. "We're doing this to discover the comet's structure and makeup," said Rick Grammier, NASA's Deep Impact project manager. "This is like swinging an 820-pound slug of copper at this thing and seeing what happens."
"What we see coming out of comets as gas and dust is stuff that has been modified because it is very near the surface, and every time the comet goes around the sun the surface gets heated. So there have been changes in the surface layers...What I really want to do is figure out how different the surface is from what's inside," said Michael A'Hearn, astronomer from the University of Maryland and the Deep Impact principal investigator. Scientists expect the materials thrown out of the freshly bored hole will settle within a few minutes, permitting good visibility into the crater. The mothership has less than 14 minutes to make its observations while zooming toward the comet before passing by Tempel 1 at a distance of 300 miles.
The blue-green stage was hauled to the pad on a specially-outfitted trailer. A crane in the pad's mobile service tower grabbed the stage and lifted it upright. The tower then wheeled into position over the pad deck, allowing the stage to be lowered into the pedestal mount. The nine strap-on solid rocket boosters will be attached to the stage in sets of three on Tuesday, next Monday and next Wednesday. The second stage is scheduled for mating atop the first stage next Friday. Meanwhile, the Deep Impact spacecraft is undergoing final preparations for launch at the Astrotech Space Operations facility near Titusville. It arrived in Florida from the Ball Aerospace factory in Boulder, Colorado, on October 23.
The high gain antenna used for spacecraft communications will be installed next Monday. The solar arrays will then be stowed and an illumination test performed as a final check of its performance on Tuesday. Deep Impact will be set for fueling the following week. After being joined with the solid-propellant motor that serves at the Delta's third stage, the spacecraft will be transported to pad 17B and placed atop the rocket. Launch is scheduled for 2:39:42 p.m. EST (1939:42 GMT) December 30, the opening of a 30-day window to send the craft on its trajectory to the comet. Project officials say there is no suitable backup launch opportunity if Deep Impact missed its window to Tempel 1. Discovered in 1867 by Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel, this comet currently circles the sun every 5.5 years. Its orbit lies between Mars and Jupiter, providing the Deep Impact mission a perfect target for reaching with a modest launch vehicle, striking at high speed and being visible from Earth at impact about 80 million miles away. |
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NASA's Deep Impact comet spacecraft arrives at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near Kennedy Space Center to begin final launch preparations for blastoff December 30 aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket. (2min 53sec file)
The Boeing Delta rocket launches from Cape Canaveral carrying the Swift gamma-ray observatory. This extended clip follows the mission through second stage ignition and includes onboard video of the nose cone separation. (5min 45sec file)
The Delta rocket's upward-facing video camera captures the nose cone covering Swift being jettisoned about five minutes into flight. (1min 06sec file)
A video camera mounted on the Delta rocket's second stage shows maneuvers to the proper orientation for release of Swift high above Earth and the observatory's successful deployment. (8min 00sec file)
A powerful tracking camera located at Cocoa Beach south of the pad provides this spectacular view from liftoff through the early minutes of flight by the Delta rocket and Swift. (2min 54sec file)
The mobile service tower is rolled back from the Boeing Delta 2 rocket, exposing the vehicle at launch pad 17A just before daybreak. (3min 14sec file)
The pre-launch campaign of the Swift observatory at Cape Canaveral is presented in this video package with expert narration by a spacecraft team member. (8min 01sec file)
Assembly of the Boeing Delta 2 rocket at launch pad 17A and mating of the Swift spacecraft is presented in this video package with expert narration. (8min 51sec file)
