Tempel 1 First Optical Navigation
On Monday, April 25, the Deep Impact spacecraft obtained its first optical navigation (Op-Nav) image of comet Tempel 1. At the time the picture was taken the distance between spacecraft and comet was 64 million kilometers (39.7 million miles) away. The exposure -- known as a "negative image" -- is used by the spacecraft team to assist in navigation and instrument calibration. The spacecraft will start imaging the comet on a regular basis in about 10 days.
Name | Value | Additional Values |
---|---|---|
Target | 9P/Tempel | |
System | Periodic Comets | |
Target Type | Comet | |
Mission | Deep Impact | |
Instrument Host | Deep Impact | |
Host Type | Impactor | |
Instrument | Impactor Targeting Sensor (ITS) | |
Detector | ||
Extra Keywords | Grayscale, Impact | |
Acquisition Date | ||
Release Date | 2005-04-27 | |
Date in Caption | ||
Image Credit | NASA/JPL/UMD | |
Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07880 | |
Identifier | PIA07880 |