Deep Space 1 Mission Status September 22, 2001 Deep Space 1's risky encounter with comet Borrelly has gone extremely well as the aging spacecraft successfully passed within 2,200 kilometers (about 1,400 miles) of the comet at 22:30 Universal Time (3:30 p.m. PDT) today. "The images and other data we collected from comet Borrelly so far will help scientists learn a great deal about these intriguing members of the solar system family," said Dr. Marc Rayman, project manager of Deep Space 1 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "It's very exciting to be among the first humans to glimpse the secrets that this comet has held since before the planets were formed." Signals confirming the successful encounter were received on Earth at 3:43 p.m. PDT, and data containing the first clues to the composition of the comet came a few hours after the close brush with the comet. Mission managers confirmed that the spacecraft was able to use all four of its instruments at Borrelly. Data will be returned over the next few days as the spacecraft sends to Earth black-and-white pictures, infrared spectrometer measurements, ion and electron data, and measurements of the magnetic field and plasma waves around the comet. Pictures of the comet will be released after they are all sent to Earth in the next few days. Several hours before the encounter, the ion and electron monitors began observing the comet's environment. The action increased about an hour and a half before the closest approach, when for two minutes the infrared spectrometer collected data that will help scientists understand the overall composition of the surface of the comet's nucleus. Deep Space 1 began taking its black-and-white images of the comet 32 minutes before the spacecraft's closest pass to the comet, and the best picture of comet Borrelly was taken just a few minutes before closest approach, as the team had planned. Two minutes before the spacecraft whizzed by the comet, its camera was turned away so that the ion and electron monitors could make a careful examination of the comet's inner coma the cloud of dust and gas that envelops the comet. Scientists on Deep Space 1 hope to find out the nature of the comet's surface, measure and identify the gases coming from the comet, and measure the interaction of solar wind with the comet. Deep Space 1 completed its primary mission testing ion propulsion and 11 other advanced, high-risk technologies in September 1999. NASA extended the mission, taking advantage of the ion propulsion and other systems to undertake this chancy but exciting encounter with the comet. More information can be found on the Deep Space 1 home page at http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1/ . Deep Space 1 was launched in October 1998 as part of NASA's New Millennium Program, which is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The California Institute of Technology manages JPL for NASA.
Wet1 www.kemble.org.uk/deepspace1.html - wadda ya fink?Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I think it is about time that we came up with other methods than chemical rockets to move things around in the interplanetary neighbothood. We neednew methods and thisis one of them.
Ion Drives If they can make a working ion drive for a probe, surely they are working on a bigger version for interplanetary exploration? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Deep Space 1 - Closedown From NASA 17 Dec 01. NASA's adventurous Deep Space 1 mission, which successfully tested 12 high-risk, advanced space technologies and captured the best images ever taken of a comet, will come to an end Dec. 18, 2001. "American taxpayers can truly be proud of Deep Space 1," said Dr. Colleen Hartman, Director of NASA's Solar System Exploration Division, Washington, D.C. "It was originally designed to be an 11-month mission, but things were going so well that we kept it going for a few more years to continue testing its remarkable ion engine and, as a bonus, to get close-up images of a comet. By the time we turn its engines off tomorrow, Deep Space 1 will have earned an honored place in space exploration history." Shortly after 12 noon PST Tuesday, engineers will send a final command turning off the ion engine, which has used up 90 percent of its xenon fuel. After Earth's final goodbye, the spacecraft will remain in orbit around the Sun, operating on its own. Its radio receiver will be left turned on, in case future generations want to contact the spacecraft. "Deep Space 1 is a true success story," said Dr. Charles Elachi, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "We are proud that future generations of spacecraft will benefit from its accomplishments." Deep Space 1 leaves the technologies it flight-tested as legacies for future missions, which would have been impossible without its trailblazing technology tests. Enabling spacecraft to travel faster and farther than ever before, Deep Space 1's ion engine was once a science fiction dream. Now this ion engine has accumulated over 670 days of operating time. Future Mars missions may use this technology to return samples from the Red Planet. Deep Space 1's successful test of autonomous navigation software was a major step in the path of artificial intelligence for spacecraft. Using images of asteroids and stars collected by the onboard camera, the spacecraft was able to compute and correct its course without relying on human controllers on Earth. NASA's Deep Impact mission will use a system based on autonomous navigation to reach the nucleus of comet Tempel 1. Within nine months after launch, Deep Space 1 had successfully tested all 12 new technologies. As a bonus, near the end of the primary mission, Deep Space 1 flew by asteroid Braille. In late 1999, its primary mission complete, Deep Space 1's star tracker failed to operate. So in early 2000, engineers successfully reconfigured the spacecraft from 300 million kilometers (185 million miles) away to rescue it for a daring extended mission to encounter comet Borrelly. In September 2001, Deep Space 1 passed just 2,171 kilometers (1,349 miles) from the inner icy nucleus of comet Borrelly, snapping the highest-resolution pictures ever of a comet. The daring flyby yielded new data and movies of the comet's nucleus that will revolutionize the study of comets. Launched on October 24, 1998, Deep Space 1 was designed and built in just three years, the shortest development time for any interplanetary spacecraft NASA has flown in the modern age. It was the first mission in NASA's New Millennium program. In addition to its technical achievements, Deep Space 1 is an ambassador of Earthlings' goodwill, carrying with it a compact disc of children's drawings and engineers' thoughts. "I'm not sad it's ending, I'm happy it accomplished so much," said Dr. Marc Rayman, Deep Space 1 project manager at JPL. "I think it inspired many people who saw the mission as NASA and JPL at our best -- bold, exciting, resourceful and productive." JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Spectrum Astro Inc., Gilbert, Ariz., was JPL's primary industrial partner in spacecraft development. Additional information on Deep Space 1 is available at http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov .
Shame to see it end. But it's legacy will live on in proven techs that will be of use in future missions. And Deep Space One still has a chance at revival should something in it's neighborhood turn up. You never know...
