Date: November 5th 2010

Nov 4, 2010

Trent J Perrotto Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0321 trent j perrotto@nasa gov

DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif 818-354-0474 agle@jpl nasa gov

Lee Tune University of Maryland, College Park 301-405-4679 ltune@umd edu

RELEASE: 10-291

NASA EPOXI FLYBY REVEALS NEW INSIGHTS INTO COMET FEATURES

WASHINGTON -- NASA's EPOXI mission spacecraft successfully flew past comet Hartley 2 at 10 a m EDT Thursday Scientists say initial images from the flyby provide new information about the comet's volume and material spewing from its surface

"Early observations of the comet show that, for the first time, we may be able to connect activity to individual features on the nucleus," said EPOXI principal investigator Michael A'Hearn of the University of Maryland, College Park "We certainly have our hands full The images are full of great cometary data, and that's what we hoped for "

EPOXI is an extended mission that uses the already in-flight Deep Impact spacecraft Its encounter phase with Hartley 2 began at 4 p m EDT on Nov 3, when the spacecraft began to point its two imagers at the comet's nucleus Imaging of the nucleus began one hour later

"The spacecraft has provided the most extensive observations of a comet in history," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington "Scientists and engineers have successfully squeezed world class science from a re-purposed spacecraft at a fraction of the cost to taxpayers of a new science project "

Images from the EPOXI mission reveal comet Hartley 2 to have 100 times less volume than comet Tempel 1, the first target of Deep Impact More revelations about Hartley 2 are expected as analysis continues

Initial estimates indicate the spacecraft was about 435 miles from the comet at the closest-approach point That's almost the exact distance that was calculated by engineers in advance of the flyby

"It is a testament to our team's skill that we nailed the flyby distance to a comet that likes to move around the sky so much," said Tim Larson, EPOXI project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif "While it's great to see the images coming down, there is still work to be done We have another three weeks of imaging during our outbound journey "

The name EPOXI is a combination of the names for the two extended mission components: the Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization (EPOCh), and the flyby of comet Hartley 2, called the Deep Impact Extended Investigation (DIXI) The spacecraft has retained the name Deep Impact In 2005, Deep Impact successfully released an impactor into the path of comet Tempel 1

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif , manages the EPOXI mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate The spacecraft was built for NASA by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp , in Boulder, Colo

For more information about EPOXI, visit:

http://www nasa gov/epoxi

http://epoxi umd edu/

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www nasa gov

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

https://aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/NASA_REPORTS/example/example com/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

<[program_url]/list/[list]>

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at: