国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Americas

NASA gives up on lost comet probe

Agencies | Updated: 2013-09-21 09:51

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA is calling off attempts to find its Deep Impact comet probe after a suspected software glitch shut down radio communications in August, officials said on Friday.

The spacecraft was launched in January 2005 for a close-up study of Comet Tempel-1.

It was not just a passive experiment. The probe released an 820-pound (372-kg) metal slug that crashed into the comet's nucleus, triggering a shower of particles for analysis by the mother spacecraft and remote observatories.

Deep Impact continued its comet quest with a flyby of Hartley 2 in November 2010 and long-distance studies of other bodies, including the approaching Comet ISON. The spacecraft was also used to look for planets beyond the solar system.

NASA last heard from Deep Impact on August 8. Engineers suspect a software problem caused the spacecraft to lose its orientation system, cutting off radio contact with Earth in the process.

After a month of fruitless attempts to find the probe, NASA on Friday announced it was formally ending the mission.

"Despite this unexpected final curtain call, Deep Impact already achieved much more than ever was envisioned," Lindley Johnson, who oversees the program at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement.

University of Maryland astronomer Michael A'Hearn, who led the Deep Impact science team, said in a separate statement: "I'm saddened by its functional loss. But, I am very proud of the many contributions to our evolving understanding of comets that it has made possible."

"These small, icy remnants of the formation of our solar system are much more varied, both one from another and even from one part to another of a single comet, than we had ever anticipated," A'Hearn said.

NASA had hoped Deep Impact would play a key role in observations of the approaching Comet ISON, a suspected first-time visitor to the inner solar system that was discovered in September 2012 by two Russian astronomers.

The comet is heading toward a close encounter with the sun in November, a brush that it may not survive.

Later this month, NASA's Mars Curiosity rover and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will attempt to catch a glimpse of the comet as it flies by Mars.

 

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
扶沟县| 平度市| 开化县| 亳州市| 呼玛县| 藁城市| 砚山县| 茂名市| 滨海县| 彭水| 石屏县| 嘉鱼县| 本溪市| 永宁县| 祁东县| 苏尼特右旗| 拉萨市| 深圳市| 赤峰市| 梁平县| 克什克腾旗| 噶尔县| 建阳市| 安塞县| 浦江县| 安龙县| 建昌县| 乐昌市| 新晃| 安丘市| 雷山县| 满洲里市| 九龙坡区| 大港区| 定南县| 礼泉县| 井陉县| 龙泉市| 娄底市| 越西县| 富蕴县|