REAL 'DEEP IMPACT' TO HAPPEN JULY 4th

U.S. Spacecraft Will Have Planned Collision With Comet To Discover Information About the Origins of the Solar System

Story Summary:

If you thought the movie Deep Impact was dramatic, just imagine the real thing - a planned collision between a U.S. built spacecraft and a comet known as Tempel -1. The event is scheduled for the 4th of July and it is hoped that it will unlock long-held secrets of the origins of our solar system.

Ball Aerospace, which has built instruments for Hubble, Spitzer and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter launching in August, designed and built the Deep Impact spacecraft. This NASA Discovery Mission is a collaboration between NASA, the University Of Maryland, The California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.

When they collide at about 23,000 miles per hour, the impact will equal nearly 5 tons of TNT. The crater in the comet could be as large as a football stadium and 14-stories deep.

To learn more or to watch the live collision, log onto www.nasa.gov.

Soundbites

• Monte Henderson, Deputy Project Manager for Deep Impact, Ball Aerospace
• Alice Phinney, Mechanical Engineer and Design Manager, Ball Aerospace

B-Roll Includes

• ***Animation***Lab Footage***Aeronautics and Space B-Roll***Scientist B-Roll***

VIDEO PROVIDED BY: "Ball Aerospace &Technologies Corp."