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(meteorobs) Defending Comets?
(My following message/comment is sort of off-topic but is in response to a
meteorobs posting by Lew last Jan 17. )
*****
Regarding NASA plans to "blast a comet" as reported in the story below.
Do any ethics issues come into play here? Might this particular comet
harbor life or proto-life? Might it be its own eco-system of some sort?
I personally don't have feelings either way on the subject of blasting
comets but think the question of whether to purposely destroy a comet
should at least be raised.
Maybe each comet is its own integral world?
Tom Ashcraft
Lamy, New Mexico, USA
-------------------- Begin Original Message --------------------
Message text written by INTERNET:meteorobs@jovian.com
"
(1) NASA AIMS TO BLAST COMET TO STUDY SOLAR SYSTEM
NASA Aims to Blast Comet to Study Solar System
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/17/science/science-space-chile-d.html
January 17, 2001
By REUTERS
SANTIAGO, Chile - NASA scientists aim to blast a comet with a copper
projectile to learn about the formation of the solar system as part of a
$270 million project funded by NASA, the head of the project said on
Tuesday.
The project, called Deep Impact and which will cause an explosion capable
of
destroying a small town, would be the first space mission to probe inside a
comet, whose primitive core could reveal
clues about evolution of the solar system.
"All our studies of comets look only at the surface layer. Our theoretical
models tell us the surface has changed, and only the interior has the
original composition. So our main goal is to
compare the interior with the surface," the project's director, Michael
A'Hearn, told reporters.
Scientists chose copper, Chile's No. 1 export, because it is less likely to
interfere with the materials inside the crater.
In January 2004, a rocket would launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, a
spacecraft that would orbit the sun. In July 2005 the spacecraft would
separate from a battery-powered, copper projectile that would collide with
the comet 24 hours later at a velocity of 6 miles (10 km) per second.
It would produce a crater the width of a football field and up to 100 feet
(30 meters) deep.
The spacecraft would observe the composition of the crater's interior,
while
telescopes on Earth would monitor the impact.
The project also aims to see if scientists can alter the orbit of a comet
to
protect the Earth from falling matter. The impact would alter the comet's
orbit by a "just barely measurable" 62 to 620 miles (100 to 1,000 km),
A'Hearn said.
The project would blast the Comet Tempel 1, which was discovered in 1867
and
is a little less than Earth's distance from the sun, he said. It was chosen
because its size, rotation and trajectory favor the project and because the
collision would be observable from Earth.
In February, NASA will carry out a preliminary design review to see if the
project can succeed.
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company"
-------------------- End Original Message --------------------
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