83-million mile bullseye!!

[beaky]

Deep Impact successfully hit its mark last night: Comet Tempel, presently about 83 million miles away. Amazing stuff, and very interesting- to me, anyway.




http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&c ... met_buster

[TacitBlue]

Cool. I'm glad to see that it worked. For some reason I had a feeling that it wouldn't.

[Politically Incorrect]

IMHO I think it was a big waste of $240 million + dollars that could have been better spent on something more important than slamming something into a frozen bunch of dirty ice.

Seriously what are we to gain from this? that the universe was created by a big explosion? Hasn't someone already figured out something like this?
I will predict what that $240 million+ will find. More dirty ice

And the fact that it seems another reason that NASA did this was because people said it couldnt be done, is rather pityful.
Time we spent money like this on cures for cancer and such and not on blasting holes in rocks in outer space that will not give us anything of use

[Whitey]

I just finished readng Dan Browns book about NASA and the asteroid...

It says in it, if it wasn't for NASA being able to work at a loss, private companies would be exploring space and it would all be about profits, so we wouldn't find anything else out about space...ever.  Do you really want that?  I don't...I know it was just a novel, but that bit's probably true.

[JBaymore]

I'd rather have our US government spending "my" money on THAT, than some of the other stuff they do with it.  

And the science involved begets many eventual spinoffs... that no one can predict beforehand.  A lot of the medical procedures and innocvations we take for granted today came from the "space race" stuff after the launching of Sputnick put the pressure on the USA to "catch up".

Who knows... maybe they'll find out it wasn't a "Big Bang" but a "Minor Wimper".  

best,

.................john

[Fozzer]

Cool. I'm glad to see that it worked. For some reason I had a feeling that it wouldn't.

...a bit like the claimed Moon Landings... ... ... ... ...!

Tee-Hee.... ....!

Amazing bit of maneuvering 83 Million miles away....
(It must take about 20 minutes to receive the command "Go left, a bit...down a bit...Oooopssss..."... ...!
LOL...!

Distance from Earth to the Sun = 93 Million miles.

Cheers all...!

Paul...Maneuvering from the living-room into the kitchen, targetting the kettle... ...!

[Hagar]

Paul...Maneuvering from the living-room into the kitchen, targetting the kettle... ...!

LMAO.

[Souichiro]

Paul...Maneuvering from the living-room into the kitchen, targetting the kettle... ...!

How long does that take

I agree however with Politically Incorrect...I think there are better things to spend/waste money on.

[beaky]

I don't see it as a waste of money. We are a long, long, LONG way from having all the answers about the formation of this star sytem.
   While it's true that  it'll be a long time before all the data gleaned from missions like this will have some practical purpose (if ever), there are potential uses that are very obvious.
 This impact marks the first time a spacecraft has made contact with a comet. Much will be learned that for the present only concerns space scientists, but learning how to succeed in this type of mission helps prepare us for dealing with something that we DO know: that comets have whacked this planet before, and will do so again. I don't want to hear the old "but it's part of  God's/Nature's plan" nonsense from anybody who sleeps under a roof. That argument reminds me of the public outcry over Ben Franklin's scandalous, blasphemous invention: the lightning rod. His response was similar: the wind, rain, etc. are all part of that, and yet we think nothing of building things to shelter us...Something potentially harmful falls from the sky, you protect yourself.  Let Nature have its way with the unprepared- we have the ability to protect ourselves, and I don't mind chipping in a few bucks to help do that.
 This spacecraft was not made to deflect a comet,  but if and when such a craft is made, it will be possible only because of precursor missions like this. There are, no doubt, techniques, etc. specific to comet- rendezvous missions that don't apply to other flights, even asteroid-rendezvous missions. We had to do it, if for no other reason than to see how it should be done. Sure the gang at NASA and JPL take pleasure in doing these things for their own sake, but that enthusiasm doesn't cost the taxpayers any more than if the control centers were manned by people who didn't get excited about space exploration. The motivation behind it doesn't matter- it's the results and the potential value of the results!
Those nutty government freeloaders with the thick glasses and pocket protectors may just save the world someday.

[SilverFox441]

What if the cure for cancer is just sitting in some comet, waiting to be discovered?

Many things we take for granted came from the space program...and many things are still to come.

[Politically Incorrect]

I don't see it as a waste of money. We are a long, long, LONG way from having all the answers about the formation of this star sytem.
 

You are right and by the time answers can be found the human race will be extinct due to spending money on smashing things into rocks millions of miles away instead of finding a cure for deadly illnesses right in our own backyard

Just think if that money was spent on the AIDS epidemic in Africa the world would have been spared having to listen to Geldof and his self promoting friends again for at least 20 years.

[Saitek]

How long does that take

Same line of thought - I think about 20 minutes. You see he gets into difficulties with that Zimmer frame.

[Paz]

IMHO I think it was a big waste of $240 million + dollars that could have been better spent on something more important than slamming something into a frozen bunch of dirty ice.

[Katahu314]

IMHO I think it was a big waste of $240 million + dollars that could have been better spent on something more important than slamming something into a frozen bunch of dirty ice.

In the past, people believed that Leonardo Da Vinci's supplies and money should have been better spent on more paintings and masterpieces rather than using them to making ONCE-THOUGHT-AS-USELESS contraptions that later made a huge impact on our modern history.

[denishc]

Same line of thought - I think about 20 minutes. You see he gets into difficulties with that Zimmer frame.

 ....and I bet it didn't cost 240 Million+.