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Deep Impact (January 7, 2005, One)

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Program Summary

An enormous asteroid is on course to smack right into Earth, destroying the planet. Our only hope is to send a team of astronauts to blow it up. Sounds like the plot of a science fiction movie. Surprise . it is! The 1990's space flick .Deep Impact. depicted just such an incident. Another surprise . the threat is real, real enough to concern scientists. In October, 2004, researchers met to discuss the possibility and consequences of being hit by a major near-Earth object (NEO).

Earth is constantly bombarded with tons of material that range in size from a sand particle to a small car. Most of these bits and pieces burn up in the atmosphere, but once in a while a chunk will make it through, and someone wakes up to find a hole in the roof and a meteorite in the living room. Scientists believe that a miles-wide comet struck the planet millions of years ago and set off a chain of events that eventually killed off the dinosaurs. And there have been many near-misses since then (albeit they usually missed by thousands of miles).

Fortunately, we have the ability now to track near-Earth objects and conceivably head one off at the pass. The concept doesn.t involve blowing up a comet at the last minute (which would rain debris down on us), but rather spotting a problem 10 to 20 years ahead of time and sending a craft out that would crash into it with enough force to slow it down or move it off course. With this in mind, NASA.s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a probe dubbed .Deep Impact. (NASA had the name first, says Ira.s guest) which is scheduled to smash into Comet Tempel 1 in July of this year. Scientists will study the physical makeup of the comet and the results of the impact to determine the feasibility of such a solution.

Guests

Donald Yeomans, co-investigator for the 'Deep Impact' Mission and head of the Near Earth Object Office of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California

Related Links and Resources

Deep Impact: Home Page
Near-Earth Object Program
Protecting Earth From Asteroids And Comets
Science Friday Kids Connection--The Future of Space Travel

For Discussion:

• What are near-Earth objects? Why could they be dangerous?
• What was the premise of the Deep Impact movie? Why isn't it a reasonable solution?
• What is the Deep Impact mission? What do scientists hope to learn from it?
• How would slowing down an asteroid keep it from hitting Earth?

Activities

Get a piece of the rock. Get familiar with near-Earth objects at Space Today.s excellent overview, Asteroids. In easy-to-understand language, the site explains asteroids and NEO's and the missions that study them. Learn about Earth's close encounters with asteroids, including Toutatis in 2004. You can find detailed information about the Deep Impact probe at the mission's home page, including images of the launch, discussion of the science and technology of the mission, animations, community activities, and teaching materials. Read about Don Quixote, the European Space Agency's similar quest to probe the same asteroid. Have students compare and contrast the two missions.

Rock my world. Scientists Plan "Deep Impact" Crash With Comet (National Geographic News) features an interview with principal investigator Michael A. Hearn with links to other comet news. Mission to Probe Comet for Origins of Life, a lesson plan from CNNfyi, provides thoughtful discussion questions and activities, including watching the theatrical film and comparing it to the real-life mission.

Arma-gonna-geddon? Doomsday Asteroid, a teacher's guide that accompanies the 1997 PBS "NOVA" episode of the same name, explores the possibility of a gigantic meteor striking Earth sometime in the future. Students can follow the recipe for making a comet in class. Tracking Near-Earth Objects ("Deadly Skies" from PBS "Savage Planet" series) explains how astronomers carefully watch these celestial, potentially dangerous, bodies.

Dino-mite. Did a huge comet really blow up the dinosaurs? Learn about revisions in history at Researchers Rethink Dinosaur Die Off Scenario (National Geographic News) and The Great Dying (Science@NASA). What does the evidence say?

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

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