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VK1DSN > SPACE 30.12.07 23:16l 103 Lines 4276 Bytes #999 (0) @ VKNET
BID : 33712_VK1DSN
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Subj: Mission to Comet Hartley 2
Path: IZ3LSV<IW2OAZ<CX2SA<ZL2BAU<VK6HGR<VK6BBS<VK1DSN
Sent: 071216/1617Z @:VK1DSN.ACT.AUS.OC #:33712 [Canberra,QF44lo] FBB7.00i
From: VK1DSN@VK1DSN.ACT.AUS.OC
To : SPACE@VKNET
Dec. 13, 2007
Grey Hautaluoma
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0668
grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov
DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov
Nancy Neal
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-0039
nancy.n.jones@nasa.gov
Lee Tune
University of Maryland, College Park
301-405-4679
ltune@umd.edu
RELEASE: 07-279
NASA SENDS SPACECRAFT ON MISSION TO COMET HARTLEY 2
WASHINGTON - NASA has approved the retargeting of the EPOXI mission for a flyby
of comet Hartley 2 on Oct. 11, 2010. Hartley 2 was chosen as EPOXI's
destination after the initial target, comet Boethin, could not be found.
Scientists theorize comet Boethin may have broken up into pieces too small for
detection.
The EPOXI mission melds two compelling science investigations -- the Extrasolar
Planet Observation and Characterization and the Deep Impact Extended
Investigation. Both investigations will be performed using the Deep Impact
spacecraft.
In addition to investigating comet Hartley 2, the spacecraft will point the
larger of its two telescopes at nearby exosolar planetary systems in late
January 2008 to observe several previously discovered planetary systems outside
our solar system. It will study the physical properties of giant planets and
search for rings, moons and planets as small as three Earth masses. It also
will look at Earth as though it were an exosolar planet to provide data that
could become the standard for characterizing these types of planets.
"The search for exosolar planetary systems is one of the most intriguing
explorations of our time," said Drake Deming, EPOXI deputy principal
investigator at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "With EPOXI
we have the potential to discover new worlds and even analyze the light they
emit to perhaps discover what atmospheres they possess."
The mission's closest approach to the small half-mile-wide comet will be about
620 miles. The spacecraft will employ the same suite of two science instruments
the Deep Impact spacecraft used during its prime mission to guide an impactor
into comet Tempel 1 in July 2005.
If EPOXI's observations of Hartley 2 show it is similar to one of the other
comets that have been observed, this new class of comets will be defined for
the first time. If the comet displays different characteristics, it would
deepen the mystery of cometary diversity.
"When comet Boethin could not be located, we went to our backup, which is every
bit as interesting but about two years farther down the road," said Tom Duxbury,
EPOXI project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Mission controllers at JPL began directing EPOXI towards Hartley 2 on Nov. 1.
They commanded the spacecraft to perform a three-minute rocket burn that
changed the spacecraft's velocity. EPOXI's new trajectory sets the stage for
three Earth flybys, the first on Dec.
31, 2007. This places the spacecraft into an orbital "holding pattern" until
time for the optimal encounter of comet Hartley 2 in 2010.
"Hartley 2 is scientifically just as interesting as comet Boethin because both
have relatively small, active nuclei," said Michael A'Hearn, principal
investigator for EPOXI at the University of Maryland, College Park.
EPOXI's low mission cost of $40 million is achieved by taking advantage of the
existing Deep Impact spacecraft.
JPL manages EPOXI for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
The spacecraft was built for NASA by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.,
Boulder, Colo.
For information about EPOXI, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/epoxi
-end-
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