The Deep Impact Mission and the AAVSO

Volume 31 number 1 (2003)

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Karen J. Meech

Institute

Abstract

NASA's eighth Discovery mission, Deep Impact, will arrive at comet 9P/Tempel in July 2005. The spacecraft will deliver a 370-kg impactor to the comet to excavate a large crater. The science goals will be (a) to excavate down to unaltered material to learn about the chemical and physical conditions in the early solar system and (b) to learn about cratering processes in small bodies and the mechanical properties of the cometary surface layers. In addition to optical imaging and near-IR imaging on the spacecraft, there will be a world-wide network of professional ground-based and space-based telescopes observing the event. A large role for mission support from observers with small telescopes will be discussed in this paper.