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CAPE CANAVERAL, July 3: NASA launched a comet-chasing satellite on Wednesday on a mission to get within 100kms of a comet nucleus to study frozen samples of the solar system from its infancy.
The satellite, named Contour, for Comet Nucleus Tour, was launched aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket from the Cape Canaveral air force station in Florida.
NASA reported the satellite was in its proper orbit and working fine after launch.
“It appears the mission is right on the mark. We’re happy here,” said launch director Chuck Duvall.
Contour will orbit Earth until Aug 15, when onboard rockets will send it toward an encounter with Comet Enke in 2003, then Comet Schwassman-Wachman 3 in 2006.
Contour is equipped with a special debris shield so it can navigate closer to the comets and survive bombardment from the minute particles of dust and frozen water that form a comet’s most distinctive feature, the tail.
BULLET-PROOF SHIELD: The shield includes a layer of Kevlar, the material used in bullet-proof vests, to help vaporize particles striking Contour with the force of .22-calibre bullets.
Contour will spend most of its operational life in hibernation mode, NASA said, to hold down costs on the $158 million program.
During each of its near-comet passes, its four science instruments will work for about six minutes, collecting hundreds of photographs and about two gigabytes of data.
Comets are common in the solar system — there may be trillions altogether, experts say — but most remain far beyond the orbit of Pluto, the outermost planet, and beyond the reach of scientists.—Reuters
