Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Deep Impact Launch Successful!!!

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DEEP IMPACT LAUNCHED - January 12, 2005 at 1:47:08 p.m. EST

1:47 p.m. - T-10....9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1... We have ignition and liftoff of a Delta II rocket carrying Deep Impact -- NASA's journey to unlock the mystery of the solar system's origin.

2:22 p.m. - Deep Impact has successfully separated from the
Delta II's third stage and is on its way to Comet Tempel 1. Cheers erupt from the NASA Launch Team.

Congratulations to all the team members from JPL, NASA, Cal Tech and Univ. Maryland. Job well done!!

The next news we will be looking to hear about is the Encounter (Impact)- July 4, 2005-Twenty-four hours prior to impact, the flyby spacecraft will release the impactor. The impactor will set a path to the comet while the spacecraft performs a "deflection maneuver" to place itself a safe distance and angle from the impact.

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