Comet On Course For Deep Impact July 4th

At a velocity of 23,000 miles per hour, the Deep Impact mission will expose what NASA hopes will be some of the secrets of the universe. Two craft comprise the aeons, will be released from the comet's core. After the impact, the flyby craft will have a short span of time, around 13 minutes, to gather information about the comet's secrets before it is hit by debris from the impact. Scientists at NASA say the collision will happen at approximately 1:52 AM EDT. Recently, scientists observed a massive, short-lived outburst of what may have been ice or other particles from the comet. The comet brightened considerably on June 22nd, due to the outburst. "This most recent outburst was six times larger than the one observed on June 14, but the ejected material dissipated almost entirely within about a half day," said University of Maryland College Park astronomer Michael A'Hearn, principal investigator for the Deep Impact mission. David Utter is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business. Email him