Deep Space 1 and 2

Deep Space 1

LAUNCH PERIOD: Deep Space 1 -- July 1-31, 1998. Deep Space 2 -- January 3-16, 1999

COST: Deep Space 1 -- $141 million. Deep Space 2 -- $26 million.

OVERVIEW: Deep Space 1 and 2 are the first of NASA's New Millennium Program missions. Deep Space 1 will test 12 advanced technologies and instruments in space. In January 1999, the Deep Space 1 spacecraft will fly by a near-Earth asteroid named in honor of school teacher Christa McAuliffe, who died in the Challenger shuttle disaster. The spacecraft will get as close as 10 kilometers above the asteroid's surface to take images and measure its basic physical properties.

In April 2000, Deep Space 1 will pass by Mars for a gravity assist, gathering energy to help speed it on its way to an encounter with comet West-Kohoutek-Ikemura.

In June 2000, the spacecraft will take close-up pictures of the comet, determine the size and shape of its nucleus, and study the coma (the cloud of water and gases surrounding the nucleus).

Its companion project, Deep Space 2, will insert microprobes into Martian soil in an attempt to do three things: determine if ice is present below the Martian surface, measure the local atmospheric pressure and characterize the thermal properties of the Martian subsurface soil. The microprobes will piggyback aboard the 1998 Mars Global Surveyor Lander when it is launched January 1999. It will separate from the lander just before it enters Mars' atmosphere between December 3-15, 1999.

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NASA links: Deep Space 1 | Deep Space 2

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Main Story | Glenn Returns to Space | International Space Station
Mars Surveyor 98 | Stardust | Deep Space 1 & 2

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