Monday, July 04, 2005
FIREWORKS!
NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft accomplished it's mission last night as the probe struck comet Tempel 1 as you see above. I am desparately seeking a way to explain, in plain language how spectacular this accomplishment was -- there simply is no terrestial analogy, the scale is too large and the speeds too fast.
I was struck watching it live last night how similar it looked to missle sight video from the Gulf War, but in that instance, the target is generally stationary or nearly stationary. In the case of air-to-air, the launch platform and the target are moving relative to each other which greatly simplifies the solution. Surface-to-air missles come closest, but even the fastest military jets are standing still in comparison to a comet, and they are a lot closer to the launch platform.
Here is what really struck me as a long time space flight observer -- computing power. The pictures were being computer enhanced on the fly as they came in. When Viking landed on Mars, for example, it took hours to get a picture transmitted and enhanced. The flight parapemters on this mission are some of the most complex since Apollo, maybe the most complex. During Apollo the computers were little more than calculators are today and they were doubled checked by a team of guys with slide rules, taking minutes. These were done using numerous complex spatial modelling and calculational techniques, in a matter of microseconds.
This was genuine celestial fireworks, tonight will, I am afraid, pale in comparision
