NASA Sends Spacecraft on Mission to Comet Hartley 2

This is an artist's rendition of the Deep Impact flyby spacecraft releasing its impactor, 24 hours before the impact event in July 2005. Pictured from left to right are comet Tempel 1, the impactor, and the flyby spacecraft. The impactor is a 370-kilogram mass with an onboard guidance system. The flyby spacecraft includes a solar panel (right), a high-gain antenna (top), a debris shield (left, background), and science instruments for high and medium resolution imaging, infrared spectroscopy, and optical navigation (yellow box and cylinder, lower left). The fly spacecraft is about 3.2 meters long, 1.7 meters wide, and 2.3 meters high. The launch payload has a mass of 1020 kilograms. The flyby spacecraft is being re-christened as EPOXI. Credit: NASA/JPL