Question 1

True or false: Deep Impact was the first mission to ever send a probe into a comet's nucleus.

Accepted Answer

True. It was the first deliberate impact into a comet nucleus, though later missions like Rosetta's Philae lander also touched a comet's surface.

Question 2

True or false: The impactor was equipped with a guidance system that allowed it to steer into the comet autonomously.

Accepted Answer

True. The smart impactor had an autonomous navigation system that used onboard cameras to target the comet's sunlit side, making course corrections for a precise collision.

Question 3

True or false: The impact created a crater the size of a football stadium.

Accepted Answer

False. The impact crater on comet Tempel 1 was later measured to be about 150 meters in diameter, roughly the size of a football field, not a full stadium. The statement exaggerates.

Question 4

True or false: The mission successfully diverted the comet Tempel 1 from its orbit around the Sun.

Accepted Answer

False. The impact only created a crater and ejected material; it did not measurably change the comet's orbit. Diverting it would require far more energy.

Question 5

True or false: The mission's flyby spacecraft later visited a second comet, Hartley 2, as part of an extended mission.

Accepted Answer

True. After Tempel 1, the flyby craft was repurposed for the EPOXI mission, which flew by comet Hartley 2 in 2010.

Question 6

True or false: The mission used a nuclear-powered battery to keep instruments warm during the long cruise.

Accepted Answer

False. Deep Impact used solar panels for power and a passive thermal design; it had no radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG).

Question 7

True or false: Deep Impact's impactor was made mostly of copper to minimize contamination of the comet's surface.

Accepted Answer

True. Copper was chosen to minimize contamination, allowing clear spectral analysis of the comet's pristine material.

Question 8

True or false: The High-Resolution Instrument on the Deep Impact spacecraft was derived from a camera design used on the Stardust mission.

Accepted Answer

True. Deep Impact's High-Resolution Instrument (HRI) was based on the Stardust Navigation Camera, saving development time and cost by adapting a proven design.

Deep Impact mission Trivia Questions