In early July, the Deep Impact spacecraft will encounter Comet Tempel 1 in a unique way. It will release an impactor, traveling at 10 km per second, which will excavate a crater, giving us our first chance to view and study the materials deep inside a comet. The Deep Impact flyby spacecraft has only 800 seconds to watch the effects of the impact, but many additional observations, spanning much longer periods, will be made with Earth-based and Earth-orbital telescopes. Michael A'Hearn will discuss the mission plan, and preview the imminent encounter.
Dr. Michael A'Hearn is the Principal Investigator for the Deep Impact mission and Professor of Astronomy at the University of Maryland. He also manages the Small Bodies node of the Planetary Data System, a NASA archive of ground-based and spacecraft mission data on comets, asteroids, and interplanetary dust.
Enjoy these free activities before tonight's lecture:
- 6 PM Visit a Discovery Station
- 6:30 PM Free showing of Cosmic Voyage in the Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater
- 7:30 PM Meet the speaker - a special question and answer session with Dr. A'Hearn about his career
Lecture begins at 8:00 PM.
Join us to celebrate the conclusion of the 2005 Exploring Space Lecture Series with special prizes and book drawings!
This lecture is free, but tickets are required. To request tickets online, please use the lecture ticket request form linked below. Questions call (202) 633-2398 or e-mail lectures@nasm.si.edu. The series continues through June. |
