This Day In History: ‘Deep Impact’ Science Team Reports Water On Comet 10 Years Ago
By NASA // February 2, 2016
NASA – On February 2, 2006, the Deep Impact science team reported the first observation of water on the surface of a comet.
The comet-hunting Deep Impact probe was designed with two parts: a “flyby” and an “impactor” probe.
As you may guess, the “impactor” probe was essentially a projectile, designed for collision with the Temple 1 comet.
After the “impactor” collided with the comet and produced a football-field-sized crater, the “flyby” probe collected images of the destructive impact–images that helped deduce the presence of water on the comet’s surface.
