Deep Impact
Opening a Window Beneath a Comet's Surface
Deep Impact deliberately struck comet Tempel 1 with an impactor while a flyby spacecraft watched the collision and the newly exposed material.
Object type
Comet flyby and impactor
Target
Comet 9P/Tempel 1
Known for
First deliberate comet impact
TransitSatellite connection
Deep Impact connects small-body exploration, comet science, impact experiments, and the later EPOXI extended mission.
Objective
Probe beneath a comet's surface
The mission's central experiment was to create a crater in Tempel 1 so scientists could observe material that had been hidden beneath the comet's weathered surface.
Encounter
Flyby spacecraft plus impactor
Deep Impact separated into a flyby spacecraft and a dedicated impactor. The impactor collided with Tempel 1 while the flyby vehicle observed the ejecta, crater environment, and changing brightness.
Extended mission
From Tempel 1 to EPOXI
After the primary mission, the surviving flyby spacecraft continued as EPOXI, combining exoplanet observations with a later flyby of comet Hartley 2.
TransitSatellite connections
Related missions, rockets & people
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