Deep Impact camera blurry
Posted: Fri, Mar 25, 2005, 8:27 PM ET (0127 GMT)
Images taken by the camera on NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft are slightly out of focus, NASA announced Friday, although the space agency downplayed the problem. In a mission status report issued Friday afternoon, NASA said that images taken by the spacecraft's High Resolution Instrument (HRI) during post-launch tests revealed that the camera had not reached perfect focus. The test images were taken after a "bake out" procedure that heated the camera to remove residual moisture from its barrel. Project officials said a team is looking into the problem, which will not affect the spacecraft's encounter with comet Tempel 1 in July. Even if the camera's focus does not improve from its current state, scientists said that the camera will still provide the best images to date of a comet. Deep Impact, launched in January, will fly past the comet while an impactor probe separates from the main spacecraft to collide with the comet's nucleus on July 4.
Images taken by the camera on NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft are slightly out of focus, NASA announced Friday, although the space agency downplayed the problem. In a mission status report issued Friday afternoon, NASA said that images taken by the spacecraft's High Resolution Instrument (HRI) during post-launch tests revealed that the camera had not reached perfect focus. The test images were taken after a "bake out" procedure that heated the camera to remove residual moisture from its barrel. Project officials said a team is looking into the problem, which will not affect the spacecraft's encounter with comet Tempel 1 in July. Even if the camera's focus does not improve from its current state, scientists said that the camera will still provide the best images to date of a comet. Deep Impact, launched in January, will fly past the comet while an impactor probe separates from the main spacecraft to collide with the comet's nucleus on July 4.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
FAA restricts hours for commercial launches during shutdown
Posted: Sun, Nov 9 9:05 AM ET (1405 GMT) China postpones Shenzhou-20 return on orbital debris concerns
Posted: Sun, Nov 9 8:58 AM ET (1358 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, November 19
SpaceX launches another batch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit
UPI — 12:18 am ET (0518 GMT) Clock starts ticking: President Trump served with summons in battle over Space Command HQ
WZDX-TV Huntsville, AL — 12:15 am ET (0515 GMT) Saltzman’s ‘Vector’ Charts Space Force’s Progress and Next Steps
Air and Space Forces Magazine — 12:14 am ET (0514 GMT) Starbase clears the way for SpaceX to collect $7.5 million tax refund
KVEO-TV Rio Grande Valley, TX — 12:12 am ET (0512 GMT) Preparing pads for SpaceX’s future Starship cadence
NasaSpaceFlight.com — 12:11 am ET (0511 GMT) |
