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Monday, July 04, 2005Deep ImpactSo what the heck am I doing up so late? Most folks wouldn't guess this, but long before I got involved in politics I was an avid space program nut. Like most kids during the 1980's, I wanted to be an astronaut, fly the Space Shuttle, go to Space Camp, etc. So yes, I am waiting to see what happens when Deep Impact hits Tempel 1. For real time stuff, you'll want to go here. Impact ETA is 1:52am Eastern. UPDATE: Last timing maneuver was right on. You can watch the impact (or at least NASA/JPL's reaction to the impact) on NASA TV. UPDATEx2: LiveBlogging now... a few sequence errors, but everything seems to be on target. 20 seconds away from performing the sequence that will capture the images of the flyby. UPDATEx3: Oh wow, they're showing pictures of the comet surface with detail that's accurate to within a few meters. Some problems with the mirror, but JPL seems to think that the effects of some sandblasting. UPDATEx4: IT HIT! There is an incredible image of the impact on the monitor at JPL. WOW! UPDATEx5: 250 microradians and climbing... UPDATEx6: The image that you will see of the impact happened just after 3 seconds. Thta's one heck of a hit! UPDATEx7: 1000 microradians and climbing... UPDATEx8: There are some very detailed images coming through now prior to impact. JPL is going to put the probe into "shield mode" in about 45 seconds. The impact is considerably brigher and bringing more material off of the comet than expected. UPDATEx9: Craters. Lots of them on the screen just before the impact. Interesting stuff! There's a lot of speculation as to what exactly caused what is being decribed as an "explosive event" by the NASA folks. Vaporized ice and CO2 is the guess at the moment. UPDATEx10: And now the politicians are entering the room, shaking hands and being congenial... Rorabacher and a couple of California congressmen. Get back to the science!!! UPDATEx11: In "shield mode" for the next 10 min. as the probe passes through the coma. Medium-res images of the flyby are showing what looks like an explosion at the moment of impact. Very bright images. UPDATEx12: NASA telling it's people to quit celebrating and get back to work. Heh. UPDATEx13: There's two crews working at JPL. One crew is in red, folding arms, looking relaxed, happy, etc. The other is in blue, still working diligently. The red is the impact team. The blue is the flyby team. There's some great images coming back post impact. Wow, there is a huge amount of dust (ejecta) from the impact. The picture we're seeing now is the last one before the probe entered "shield mode" -- 13 minutes after impact. The tone from some of the scientists seems to be "what did we do to the comet," almost as if they hurt a buddy or something. They're saying it will take at least 2 minutes for the crater to develop. The plume shouldn't last very long. UPDATEx14: So what did this acheive? Well, the idea here is that the probe has taken spectral data from the comet's surface before impact. In order to find what is inside the comet, the idea is that the impact will "kick up" the inside of the comet, and the resulting dust will settle. The probe will then be able to take spectral data once again and measure specific molecules such as water, carbon dioxide, etc. The image NASA is showing now is a huge explosion (for lack of a better word) at the end of the comet. It's big allright. Initial assumption is that the impact probe hit a pocket of gas inside the comet, resulting in an explosion akin to shooting a shaken can of coke with a BB pellet (not that I've ever done that before). UPDATEx15: Just to give you some idea of the size of the impact, the comet is about one kilometer by one kilometer by one kilometer. In short, the impact is massive to say the least. Good news is the pictures we are seeing now are very raw. They are going to become much, much better over the next few days. CONCLUSION: News briefing at 4:00am. The pictures are going to be posted on the NASA website, and they lived up to the fireworks they promised to be. WOW! Very good stuff. I'm signing off, but I'll be very interested to see what the flyby crew has for us.
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JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General?1) John Brownlee2) Ken Cuccinelli AboutShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia.ContactThe Jeffersoniad
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