UNIQUE SPACE PROJECT SMASHES COMET

US

A space projectile launched by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) crashed into a comet this summer-but unlike other space-related mishaps that the United States and other countries have faced over the decades, this collision was intentional.

The NASA project

The mission, dubbed "Deep Impact," was implemented to provide a glimpse beneath the surface of a comet, where material from the solar system's formation remains relatively unchanged, NASA has reported. Mission scientists hoped the project would answer basic questions about how the solar system formed by providing an in-depth picture of the nature and composition of comets.

"They say a picture can speak a thousand words," said Deep Impact project manager Rick Grammier of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory QPL) in Pasadena, Calif., USA. "But when you take a look at some of the ones we captured in the early morning hours of July 4, 2005,1 think you can write a whole encyclopedia."

The University of Maryland was responsible for the overall Deep Impact mission science, with project management handled by JPL. The spacecraft was built for NASA by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation, Boulder, CoIo., USA.