NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Deep Impact's Fireworks

NASA's Deep Impact mission kicked off Independence Day with some celestial fireworks, about 83 million miles from Earth. The mission's impactor spacecraft hit Comet Tempel 1 just before 2 a.m. EDT as a flyby spacecraft -- and other telescopes in space and on Earth -- watched.

At top left is a photo from the impactor as it approached, taken about six minutes before impact. An close up of the comet's surface, just a minute before impact, is seen at bottom left. The flyby spacecraft captured the bright "ejecta" from the collision, right, just 16 seconds after impact.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD

+ Deep Impact Coverage