[meteorite-list] Hawaii Residents May Have View of Comet Collision (Deep Impact)

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.kpua.net/news.php?id=4030

Hawaii residents may have view of Comet collision
Associated Press
December 20, 2004

BALTIMORE (AP) _ Hawaii residents may see one of the biggest Fourth of
July fireworks ever next year.

A University of Maryland spacecraft is to be launched by NASA in January
and is to crash on Independence day into the comet Tempel-One.

Although the two are to collide near the orbit of Mars, the collision
may be visible with the naked eye in California, Australia and Hawaii.

Researchers hope the collision will excavate a stadium-sized hole in the
comet and reveal scientific secrets hidden in the comet since it was
created million of years ago.

Astronomers are calling it celesial archaelogy.

The spacecraft is actually two vessels. One, called the impactor, has a
camera and will send back pictures until it's destroyed. Meanwhile, a
companion spacecraft will record the collision.