EPOXI - mission to Comet Hartley 2 & exoplanet telescope

cIclops · 2007-12-14 04:33:07

NASA Sends Spacecraft on Mission to Comet Hartley 2 - 13 Dec 2007

WASHINGTON - NASA has approved the retargeting of the EPOXI mission for a flyby of comet Hartley 2 on Oct. 11, 2010. Hartley 2 was chosen as EPOXI's destination after the initial target, comet Boethin, could not be found. Scientists theorize comet Boethin may have broken up into pieces too small for detection.
The EPOXI mission melds two compelling science investigations -- the Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization and the Deep Impact Extended Investigation. Both investigations will be performed using the Deep Impact spacecraft.
In addition to investigating comet Hartley 2, the spacecraft will point the larger of its two telescopes at nearby exosolar planetary systems in late January 2008 to observe several previously discovered planetary systems outside our solar system. It will study the physical properties of giant planets and search for rings, moons and planets as small as three Earth masses. It also will look at Earth as though it were an exosolar planet to provide data that could become the standard for characterizing these types of planets.
"The search for exosolar planetary systems is one of the most intriguing explorations of our time," said Drake Deming, EPOXI deputy principal investigator at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "With EPOXI we have the potential to discover new worlds and even analyze the light they emit to perhaps discover what atmospheres they possess."
The mission's closest approach to the small half-mile-wide comet will be about 620 miles. The spacecraft will employ the same suite of two science instruments the Deep Impact spacecraft used during its prime mission to guide an impactor into comet Tempel 1 in July 2005.

Excellent reuse of the Deep Impact spacecraft.

EPOXI Homepage

cIclops · 2008-02-17 02:58:27

Hunt for Alien Worlds - 7 Feb 2008

GREENBELT, Md. - NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft is aiming its largest telescope at five stars in a search for alien (exosolar) planets as it enters its extended mission, called EPOXI.
Deep Impact made history when the mission team directed an impactor from the spacecraft into comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005. NASA recently extended the mission, redirecting the spacecraft for a flyby of comet Hartley 2 on Oct. 11, 2010.
As it cruises toward the comet, Deep Impact will observe five nearby stars with "transiting exosolar planets," so named because the planet transits, or passes in front of, its star. The EPOXI team, led by University of Maryland astronomer Dr. Michael A’Hearn, directed the spacecraft to begin these observations January 22. The planets were discovered earlier and are giant planets with massive atmospheres, like Jupiter in our solar system. They orbit their stars much closer than Earth does the sun, so they are hot and belong to the class of exosolar planets nicknamed "Hot Jupiters."
However, these giant planets may not be alone. If there are other worlds around these stars, they might also transit the star and be discovered by the spacecraft. Deep Impact can even find planets that don't transit, using a timing technique. Gravity from the unseen planets will pull on the transiting planets, altering their orbits and the timing of their transits.
"We're on the hunt for planets down to the size of Earth, orbiting some of our closest neighboring stars," said EPOXI Deputy Principal Investigator Dr. Drake Deming of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. EPOXI is a combination of the names for the two extended mission components: the exosolar planet observations, called Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization (EPOCh), and the flyby of comet Hartley 2, called the Deep Impact eXtended Investigation (DIXI). Goddard leads the EPOCh component.

With the start of the exoplanet search as well as the comet flyby, the old Deep Impact spacecraft is really giving good value.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2008-02-19 08:41:10

Is there not a Deep Impact thread on newmars already ?

I'm sure I've seen the thread before

cIclops · 2008-02-19 08:53:20

Yes, but as this is effectively two new missions unrelated to DI except for the reuse of the bus, it seemed worth a new topic.

Link to original Deep Impact topic

cIclops · 2008-05-20 05:22:27

Project homepage

current status - EPOCh updates

04.28.2008 Cooling Down
The spacecraft's signal strength has returned to expected performance after losing about 8dB during perihelion (closest point to the sun). At the end of last week, as the spacecraft cooled (a combination of moving further from the sun and all instruments being turned off), telemetry strength returned. Observations for EPOCh are scheduled to be resumed at the end of this week.
04.02.2008 EPOCh Observes X0-2
On March 28, EPOCh downlinked over 5000 photometric CCD frames of the metal-rich transiting planet system XO-2. The was the largest volume of data in a single downlink for EPOXI to date. Following this downlink, EPOCh observations have been paused, to investigate the cause of a weaker-than-normal downlink signal, and some slightly elevated temperatures on the spacecraft.
03.26.2008 EPOCh Observes TrES-3
EPOCh has recently completed observations of the massive hot Jupiter exoplanet, TrES-3 (pronounced "trace three"). After recovering from safe mode on March 6, EPOXI promptly observed 5 transits, and 6 secondary eclipses of TrES-3. On March 18, EPOXI observed the Earth for a full 24-hour rotational cycle, obtaining narrow-band visible images and infrared (1.5-4.5 micron) spectroscopy. The EPOCh science team will use the Earth data to define the properties of the "Earth-as-an-exoplanet", i.e. the rotational light curve of Earth's integrated light. This light curve should exhibit signatures due to cloud patterns and vegetation on the land masses, and similar signatures may eventually be observable for Earth-like exoplanets. On March 20, EPOXI turned to observe transits of the metal-rich giant planet system XO-2.

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Announcement

#1 2007-12-14 04:33:07

Re: EPOXI - mission to Comet Hartley 2 & exoplanet telescope

#2 2008-02-17 02:58:27

Re: EPOXI - mission to Comet Hartley 2 & exoplanet telescope

#3 2008-02-19 08:41:10

Re: EPOXI - mission to Comet Hartley 2 & exoplanet telescope

#4 2008-02-19 08:53:20

Re: EPOXI - mission to Comet Hartley 2 & exoplanet telescope

#5 2008-05-20 05:22:27

Re: EPOXI - mission to Comet Hartley 2 & exoplanet telescope

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