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MissionHow does DS1's mission compare to other space missions? |
By the time you read this, Deep Space 1 will be in space, having been launched on October 24, 1998. Its first destination is the near-Earth asteroid 1992 KD. Deep Space 1 is scheduled to fly by this asteroid on about July 28, 1999. The primary mission ends on September 18, 1999, by which time Deep Space 1 will have completed its mission of demonstrating new technologies. This makes DS1's mission relatively short. However, DS1 will keep traveling after it tests all its new technologies until it gets far enough from the Sun to run out of power. That will not happen until it is near or past Mars.
What will happen to DS1 after its done all of its objectives?
