Deep Impact-EPOXI:
Deep Impact's primary mission was to deliver a special impactor spacecraft into the path of comet Tempel 1. The spacecraft - and many ground-based observers - observed the impact and the ejected material. Scientists were surprised the cloud was composed of a fine, powdery material, not the expected water, ice, and dirt.

The flyby spacecraft is now on an extended EPOXI mission as to study and search for planets orbiting distant stars. It is en route to observe a second comet, Hartley 2. The spacecraft makes its closest approach to Hartley 2 in 2010.

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01.12.05:  Launch 07.04.05:  Impacts Comet Tempel 1 Status:  In Hibernation Mode Show All Dates for Deep Impact		07.23.08:  NASA's Deep Impact Films Earth as an Alien World 02.07.08:  NASA's Deep Impact Begins Hunt for Alien Worlds 12.13.07:  NASA Sends Spacecraft on Mission to Comet Hartley 2 More Headlines
Deep Impact was the first mission to eject material from a comet's surface. It is a coincidence that Deep Impact shares its name with a 1998 science fiction disaster film about a comet. Author Arthur C. Clarke suggested the idea of impacting a comet in his novel 2001: A Space Odyssey		Solar System Bodies: Comets Deep Impact Multimedia Gallery NASA's Discovery Program Deep Impact Fact Sheet (PDF File) Deep Impact Image Gallery More Links