Summary

Description	The Deep Impact spacecraft took the first step toward its journey to comet Tempel 1 when it arrived in Florida in October. It was shipped by truck from Ball Aerospace and Technologies in Boulder, Colorado, to the Astrotech Space Operations facility near the Kennedy Space Center. After removing it from the container, the spacecraft was carefully moved to a work stand for post-shipping check-out. With the spacecraft secured, technicians attached large protective covers to its solar arrays, which were then locked to the open position. A series of mission readiness tests will follow the loading of updated flight software. The spacecraft is scheduled for a December 30 launch aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. On July 4, 2005, -- when it's 83 million miles from Earth -- Deep Impact will fire an 820-pound copper projectile that will collide with the comet's surface at a speed of 23 thousand miles per hour. The force will produce a crater that could
Date	2004-11-11
Source	images.nasa.gov

Licensing

Public Domain (US Government Work)