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Searching Out One Risky Encounter In Deep Space

Deep Space 1 has trailblazed a multitude of new technologies that will benefit spacecraft designers for the next decade and more
by Laura Woodmansee
Pasadena - Sept. 21, 2001
NASA's Deep Space 1 probe is set to fly into the coma of Comet Borrelly on Saturday at 3:30pm PDT - (2230 Universal time). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Dr. Marc Rayman, project manager of the mission, is cautious about the encounter. "I'm very excited� [But] any spacecraft can be given an assignment that simply exceeds its capabilities. And this spacecraft is going to be battered by high-velocity bullets," Rayman says.

At it's closest approach to Comet Borrelly, Deep Space1 will be flying within 2000 kilometers (1,200 miles) of the nucleus. This is an extreme environment that spacecraft can be designed for, but Deep Space1 was not.

There is a good chance that the spacecraft will be destroyed by cometary debris. Rayman advises, "Keep your expectations low, this very risky. There's a very real chance it will not be successful."

Deep Space 1 is extremely low on hydrazine propellant and is "pretty debilitated already" since its star tracker failed in 1999. Since then, the probe has used its camera as a makeshift star tracker.

Even though this encounter may end the mission, there is no downside to this extra flyby. If it succeeds, scientists and engineers will learn valuable information about comets and their environment.

Deep Space1 has already exceeded its design life, and this extra encounter is just one more success. Rayman was one of the project's founding members, "I've been tremendously happy. It's truly exceeded everyone's expectations. We had a clearly defined set of success criteria before launch, all NASA missions do. And we met or exceeded all of them."

The Deep Space1 spacecraft has been doing double duty. It's a technology tester; it's a science-seeking spacecraft. While it has been extremely useful to the science community, its principle benefits have always been to future missions. This encounter will continue that goal.

"If we can get data at the comet, it will help both for science and for engineering," says Rayman.

"While Deep Space 1 was not built to study a comet, Stardust, Deep Impact, Rosetta and CONTOUR were, or are being built to do that and other missions will be after them. So the more we can learn about comets to help those future missions, the better off we'll be," explained Rayman.

As a technology tester, Deep Space 1 put Ion propulsion, autonomous optical navigation, miniature spectrometers and a number of other new technologies through their paces.

Rayman sites the Ion propulsion system, which has operated for more than 14,000 hours, as one of the best things to come out of the Deep Space 1 project.

Deep Space 1 is the first mission of NASA's New Millennium program which was created to prove high-risk, high-return technology. Other NASA projects are just now beginning to consider ways to use the technologies developed by Deep Space 1 on future probes.

As Rayman says, "there really aren't many other missions whose design is far enough along. Deep Space 1 just finished testing its technologies a little less than 2 years ago. So they are just now ready for future missions to start using them. Those missions are just now beginning to bubble up from out of the laboratory into reality".

The ion thruster is being considered for a Mars sample return, a Neptune orbiter, and several other missions still in the concept phase. "It's still going to be a little while before we see these technologies really being fully incorporated into missions," Rayman says.

All spacecraft come to an end eventually, but some end more successfully than others. Succeed or fail this weekend, Deep Space 1 has already been a great success in advancing our knowledge of the technologies that will enable future missions to better explore our solar system.

Rayman is overjoyed with his spacecraft and the experience of working on the project since its inception in 1995. "This is just another historic mission in NASA's, or I should say, in humankind's remarkable exploration of the solar system. And I think it's that kind of thing that really expresses the best of humankind's efforts and hopefully lifting people's spirits while inspiring them."

Laura Woodmansee is a Pasadena-based science journalist

For additional teports on DS1's main technology and science missions pleases see the following articles.

  • The Technology of Deep Space
  • Salvaging Deep Space One

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    Veteran Spacecraft Attempts To Earn Extra Credit At Comet
    Pasadena - September 18, 2001
    Like a slugger trying to pile up extra home runs after breaking the world record, a venerable NASA spacecraft already famed for bringing science fiction's ion-engine technology to life is preparing to fly daringly close to a comet on Saturday, Sept. 22.



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