A Boeing Delta II launch vehicle carrying the Deep Impact spacecraft lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on January 12, 2005. Click on image for full size (52K JPEG) Image courtesy NASA.

NASA launched the Deep Impact space mission at 1:47 PM Eastern Time on January 12, 2005. Deep Impact was lifted into space from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard a Delta II launch vehicle. The spacecraft will study the comet Temple 1.

Deep Impact will rendezvous with the comet on July 4, 2005. The spacecraft consists of two parts: a "fly-by" section and an impactor that will crash into the comet. The impactor is made of copper, is about one meter (three feet) across, and has a mass of 370 kg (820lbs). It is expected to blast a crater the size of a football stadium and between two and fourteen stories deep into the comet. The fly-by craft will take measurements and pictures of the comet before, during, and after the collision. Scientists hope to learn more about the composition and interior of the comet from these observations.

Comet Tempel 1 was discovered in 1867 by Ernst Tempel. It orbits the Sun once every 5.5 years.

A Delta II rocket carrying the Deep Impact spacecraft blasts off from Florida in January 2005. Click on image for full size (52K JPEG) Image courtesy NASA.

A rocket carrying NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft blasted off on January 12, 2005. Deep Impact will study a comet.

Deep Impact has two parts. One part will fly by the comet. The other part, called an "impactor", will crash into the comet! The impactor will make a crater as big as a football stadium on the comet. Scientists want to see what the insides of a comet are like. The flyby part of Deep Impact will take pictures before, during, and after the crash.

Deep Impact will get to Comet Temple 1 on the Fourth of July, 2005. The comet is named after Ernst Tempel, who discovered it in 1867. Comet Temple 1 goes around the Sun once every 5.5 years.

A rocket carrying the Deep Impact spacecraft blasts off from Florida in January 2005. Click on image for full size (52K JPEG) Image courtesy NASA.

A rocket blasted off on January 12, 2005. The rocket was carrying a robot spacecraft called Deep Impact. Deep Impact will study a comet.

Deep Impact has two parts. One part will fly by the comet. The other part is called an "impactor". The impactor will crash into the comet! It will make a crater as big as a football stadium on the comet. Scientists want to see what the insides of a comet are like. The flyby part of Deep Impact will take pictures before, during, and after the crash.

Deep Impact will get to Comet Temple 1 on the Fourth of July, 2005. The comet is named after Ernst Tempel. He discovered the comet in 1867. Comet Temple 1 goes around the Sun once every 5.5 years.