The probe has already far exceeded its planned lifespan

Dec 2, 2011 21:01 GMT  ·  By

On Thursday, November 24, mission controllers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, sent a series of commands to the Deep Impact spacecraft. The orders were to fire up its onboard rocket motors for 140 seconds, altering its paths so that its options remain opened.

The probe successfully concluded its primary mission back in 2005, but it has been kept active ever since, due to the fact that it carries an amazing suite of scientific instruments. The tools are uniquely qualified to conduct observations of comets.

With the new thruster firing, the probe's trajectory was altered in such a way that – if the need ever rose to have it operational again – NASA could call on it as fast as possible. At this point, the spacecraft is not necessarily close to any comet, but things may change a few years from now.

The spacecraft has already been in space for more than 6 years and 10 months. It took off from Space Launch Complex 17B (SLC-17B) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), in Florida, aboard a Delta II delivery system.

On July 4, 2005, it completed a flyby of comet 9P/Tempel, which was its primary mission. During the flight, the probe was able to release an impactor straight into the heart of the comet, and then analyze the ejecta plume that was produced as a result. This was the first mission to use this technique.

On November 25, 2010, the Deep Impact spacecraft carried out a flyby of comet Hartley 2. Experts at JPL believed that that was the last time they would ever use the probe, but apparently, it just keeps on going. The new maneuver was carried out in order to ensure the vehicle will be useful yet again.

“The burn was right on the money. Not bad for a spacecraft whose prime mission successfully concluded in 2005. We've logged a lot of miles and at least one comet flyby since our '05 encounter with comet Tempel 1,” says JPL Deep Impact project manager Tim Larson.

“With this burn, we keep the door open for Deep Impact logging even more miles and exploring more small worlds before all is said and done,” the official adds. He says that the maneuver began at 4 pm PST (7 pm EST, 0000 GMT on November 25)

The spacecraft experienced a change in velocity of 19.7 miles per hour (8.8 meters per second). At this point, the American space agency is considering whether or not to extend the probe's mission yet again. If that comes to pass, the next engine burn will occur next autumn.

The issue now is not whether or not NASA wants to grant a mission extension, but if it has enough money to support such an endeavor.

Over the next few years, NASA will get significantly less money than it did over the past couple of years, so it simply may not have the monetary resources necessary to support extending this mission.