Deep Impact is an Anti-Astroid Weapons Test

[najab]

><i>Frist of all, it's 6 out of 11 being miltiary...</i><p>Well, which six?<p>><i>When you do a complete, honest and comprehensive check you find out almost all astronauts have been military. </i><p>Do you still maintain that contention in the light of these numbers?</p></p></p>

 

[serak_the_preparer]

*bump*<br /><br />Well, Deep Impact's big day is finally upon us, so this seems a good time to nudge threads on the mission back to the top.<br /><br />This is a mission to explore a comet. We may also learn things which will be helpful should we ever need to deflect a comet aimed at Earth. NASA was born from the military, will never be completely separate from the military, and the agency's ties to the military undeniably remain in place. For the sake of argument, I'll agree more than one objective is being served by this mission, deflecting chunks of spaceborne death and destruction from Earth's path being among them.

 

[serak_the_preparer]

By the way...<br /><br />Deep Impact Mission Status Center by Justin Ray<br /><br /><b>0618 GMT (2:18 a.m. EDT)</b><br /><br /><i>The medium-resolution telescope images from the mothership showing the impact are now being received.</i><br /><br />And:<br /><br />SpaceflightNow<br /><br /><b>It's a Bullseye!</b><br /><br /><i>NASA's Deep Impact mission has slammed into Comet Tempel 1 with spectacular results. The impactor struck the comet with the force of 4.5 tons of TNT creating a massive blast that was captured by the flyby spacecraft.</i><br /><br />Bullseye.jpg<br /><br />And:<br /><br />Nasa probe impacts Comet Tempel 1 (BBC)<br /><br />Monday, 4 July, 2005<br /><br /><i>Nasa scientists say a projectile released by their Deep Impact spacecraft has struck Comet Tempel 1.<br /><br />The washing machine-sized 372kg (820lbs) "impactor" smashed into the huge icy body right on schedule just after 0550 GMT on Monday.<br /><br />The 37,000km/h (23,000mph) collision is expected to create a huge crater in the comet and throw off a stream of debris.<br /><br />The Deep Impact spacecraft, which is watching the event from a safe distance, is sending images to Earth....</i>

 

[serak_the_preparer]

Yes, somewhat.<br /><br />Those who agreed with Paradoxical weren't far wrong:<br /><br />Deep Impact is a smashing success by William Harwood (CBS)<br /><br />July 4, 2005<br /><br /><i>And while it was not a primary goal of the mission, the deep space fireworks display will give scientists and engineers valuable insights into what might be needed someday to divert or destroy a comet on a collision course with Earth....</i>

 

[alokmohan]

The mission is our protector for future.

 

[najab]

Congrats to the Deep Impact mission team!<br /><br />(And Steve, which six?)

 

[hurricane4911]

There is nothing here to indicate this is a hidden weapons test. The guidance is off-the-shelf, and people have been shooting metallic projectiles at each other for quite some time.<br /><br />I for one really enjoy this mission. The "Oooh and Ahhaaa" factor is what does it for me.<br /><br />Very cool.

 

[yevaud]

No, sorry. Mere Kinetic energy strikes couldn't hurt or deflect an asteroid. It wouldn't make any sense to even conduct such an experiment.<br /><br />As a demonstration of simple Physics now... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[najab]

><i>IN your resurrection of this, after 5 months, you give the clear impression of being unable to move on. As you have made mistakes, shall we resurrect ALL of those? </i><p>I didn't bump the thread, but anyway - does this mean you're admitting you were wrong? And yes, I <b>DO</b> have a problem when someone says "It's very interesting that you find it easy to evade the truth by using false statistics.", and then procedes to <b>make up</b> statistics and avoid 'fessing up' to the fact that they did so. And then that person seeks to bring in all sorts of extraneous matters in an apparent effort to distract attention from their mis-statements.<p>If anything, this "...must necessarily enlighten others as to your methods, which have been in the past and present, neither up front, logical or factual in too many cases."</p></p>

 

[najab]

Prove your point, Steve - which six?

 

[najab]

Steve, you called me a liar and you made up the 'facts' you used to justify it. So no, I'm not going to let it go until either you show how I'm a liar or you retract your statement.

 

[igorsboss]

Deep Impact hit a space rock, and that's a first. Yippiee!<br /><br />Maybe someday we'll need to deflect an asteroid, and this gives the politicians a little more confidence than they had a month ago, even though the rocket scientists were never in doutbt. Yippiee!<br /><br />Meanwhile, najaB and steve continue a petty squabble outside FS. Boo hiss! najaB, being a moderator means never saying <font color="yellow">I'm not going to let it go until *insert ultimatum here*"</font>because that means you're taking it personally. Now all Steve has to do is simply never comply withyour ultimatum to ensure you stay upset.

 

[najab]

><i>Now all Steve has to do is simply never comply withyour ultimatum to ensure you stay upset.</i><p>I'm not upset, it's not like I walk around all day fuming about it. I just get reminded every now and then that Steve still hasn't managed to answer what is a <b>very</b> simple question (which of the above listed astronauts is (ex-)military). I find it useful to bear in mind every time he starts spouting his 'expert' opinions on everything.</p>

 

[zavvy]

<font color="yellow">I'm not going to let it go...</font><br /><br />I was accused of lying once, and when I called the person out I was silenced by the powers that be.... <img src="/images/icons/rolleyes.gif" /><br /><br />Let it go...

 

[serak_the_preparer]

<b>Kenneth Mark Hoover:</b> <i>Keeping that in mind, what are NASA's long-range goals regarding space exploration?</i><br /><br /><b>Les Johnson:</b> <i>They are very clearly stated in our Strategic Plan. First, to understand and protect our home planet....</i><br /><br />- from Interview: Les Johnson, 11 August 2003<br /><br />(Les Johnson is Manager of NASA's In-Space Propulsion technology projects.)<br /><br />The more we learn, the better our chances of diverting a would-be impactor on some future date. If some dinosaurs had possessed language and tool-use, had had space technology, and had conducted missions like Deep Impact, who knows how things might have gone?<br /><br />It's certainly possible we could someday fail to move some space rock out of the way. In which case, we could join the dinosaurs. Then millions of years from now some other species might owe its position as the dominant species on the planet to our short-sightedness.<br /><br />Far, far in the future, some descendant of our present-day squid is conducting research on a newly-discovered shotgun pattern of impacts across the northern hemisphere...<br /><br /><i>Dr. Zish</i>: <b>Distinguished colleagues and fellow scientists, in recent years we have gone beyond confirming the existence of a previous species of tool-users on this planet. Much research has become centered on the causes of their untimely demise, a fate we, too, would naturally like to avoid. Various theories have been advanced, and today I am here to present conclusive evidence of the event which destroyed them almost overnight.<br /><br />If you'll take a look at this slide, you'll see the string of impacts identified late last year by Dr. Shef Floff's team. Now Drs. Sellshes, Lisesh and myself have successfully dated these impacts back to the time Earth's supreme mammals perished. In fact, in one case we even found traces of a population center whic</b>

 

[serak_the_preparer]

<i>There is nothing here to indicate this is a hidden weapons test.</i><br /><br />Hurricane4911,<br /><br />See this post (just a couple above yours in flat mode).<br /><br />'Hidden' and 'weapon' may be putting it too strongly. But one of the objectives of learning more about comets in this way was to gain a better idea of how to go about deflecting them.

 

[serak_the_preparer]

Thank you. That was my point.

 

[serak_the_preparer]

But it is learning things which might be useful when the time comes for real anti-asteroid weapon-testing...<br /><br />Asteroid turns out to be a rubble pile by Maggie Fox (Reuters)<br /><br />June 1, 2006<br /><br /><i>Itokawa has two parts resembling the head and body of a sea otter, Akira Fujiwara and his colleagues report in Friday’s issue of the journal Science. Previously studied asteroids appeared to be lumps of solid rock, but Itokawa is made up of loosely packed bits of sand and boulders, they said. Their findings could have implications for deflecting asteroids that might pass too close to Earth in the future...</i>

 

[qso1]

paradoxical:<br />NASA are wonderful masters of creating ruses...<br /><br />Me:<br />What evidence can you provide for NASA intentionally being masters of ruses other than sci fi movies? An example would be, what actual or even planned NASA deep space mission was other than what NASA said it was?<br /><br />paradoxical:<br />The recently launched Deep Impact asteroid smashing satellite is far more than a mere "Oh, let's see what's inside an asteroid!”<br /><br />Me:<br /><br />paradoxical:<br />I wish to apply real science to a little bit of a hypothesis I've been contemplating...<br /><br />Me:<br />That can be thrown right out the window, what real science?<br /><br />Deep impact has already occured and shows no signs of being any sort of weapons test. Amateur astronomers the world over would be able to detect a significant change in the comets direction of travel. The impactor does not have enough mass to actually deflect the comet more than a negligeable amount like...one inch maybe? Blow a lot of soft or even liquid material out of the crater yes...move the comet, no.<br /><br />paradoxical:<br />The recently launched Deep Impact asteroid smashing satellite...<br /><br />Me:<br />Excerpt from<br />http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html<br />Scientists on NASA's Deep Impact mission report the direct detection of solid water ice deposits on the surface of comet Tempel 1.<br />End excerpt<br /><br />Me:<br />Whatta ya know, here are scientists reporting on the success of the weapons test uh hmmm...no, seems there reporting on the corny data from the comet.<br /><br />paradoxical:<br />According to NASA (www.deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov) “The Deep Impact mission is the first to explore a comet's interior by using a spacecraft to create a crater, allowing us to look deep inside" He, he, sounds a bit corny<br /><br />Me:<br />NASA has been known to be corny at times but unfortunately for those who wish this to be some grand <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>