What was DS1's original mission?
DS1's original mission is primarily to test all of its new technologies while
traveling in space and encountering some extraterrestrial objects as it goes.
Because the launch time was changed, the extraterrestrial objects in space it
was to encounter have now moved so that they won't be in the path of DS1. DS1's
mission to test technology will proceed largely as planned, though.
The originally planned encounters were:
- Launch: July 1998
- Asteroid flyby: Asteroid 3352 McAuliffe S 1981 CW, Time: 4:43:41
Jan 14, 1999
- Mars Swingby: Time: 18:23:20, Apr 27, 2000
- Comet flyby: Comet 20528 West-Kohoutek-Ikemura, Time: 18:28:44, Jun
5, 2000
What is DS1's programmed mission?
What will happen to DS1 after
its done all of its objectives?
What new technologies are being
tested on DS1?
How long will DS1's mission take?
How
does NASA run space missions?
What
is the difference between DS1 and NASA's autonomous spacecraft?
What is a comet?
Why is DS1's original course different
from what its doing now?
What will DS1 do when it gets to the
asteroid?
Why do space missions take so long?
How will we know if the new technologies
work?
Why are we testing new technologies on
DS1?
