This time, they are going to smash a spacecraft into a comet on the 4th of July.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/01/01/comet.buster.ap/index.html

NASA should load it up with explosives.

Intergalactic 'splosions!

'splosions

Nasa!

Only Nasa I guess...

a piece of it is going to hit us

NASA needs to do more stuff like this. Spend 330 million dollars on a hunk of copper that is going to be hurled at a comet, and then explode.

Expensive space equipment + comets + Explosions = Awesomeness!

Have they picked the civilian drilling team that's going?

330 million dolar firework? What a waist! If they're going to hurtle something to a comet, why don't they take something already used and no good and just shoot that up?
And also, this could back-fire in the long run. That exposion could alter the astroids course and have it hit us when it comes around again.
These 330 million should really go into making safe and fast space travels and make all these Sci-Fi dreams come true.

/Edward

I'm assuming you didn't even read the article.

If you had, you'd know that I was being a little bit sarcastic, it's not going to be just fireworks. They're hoping to break inside the comet to study it, see what it's made of and what is inside. Also, taking something that's no good and shooting it into it wouldn't have the same effect, seeing as they're using a hunk of copper so it doesn't effect the sensor equipment on the REST OF THE PROBE THAT THEY'RE SENDING HURTLING TOWARDS IT with all the cameras and equipment, and the OTHER PROBE that will be sitting 300 miles away, recording the entire impact from afar.

Also: This could NOT backfire in the long run.. they had a size comparison: The comet is approx. 9 miles long. This probe is the size of a bushel basket.

I'd like to see a bushel basket that will be coming FROM earth cause a /comet/ to alter course so drasticly TOWARDS earth that it hits us.

And for the "this money could be going to making ships faster and safer," they also said that if the correct elements are inside the comet (which they will find out after creating the crater), they might be able to land ships on comets in the future and break elements down into fuel and other supplies. (hydrogen, oxygen)

Read the article before you post, please.

I say they should nuke it.

Anyone know what explosions are like in airless environments? Will it even do anything?

Rockets seem to work in space, but I dunno about explosions. That's not what they're doing, anyway -- they're putting a chunk of copper in the path of a speeding comet, to study the resulting debris from the impact.

Personally, I'm quite excited about this. This should give us a lot of information as to the composition of these comets. Depending on the results, it could have some relatively wide-ranging implications about their nature and origin.

NASA is cool.

Bruce Willis and Aerosmith are going on a rock and roll spaceship.

lol

Nah, I suspect there'll be a sarcastic pilot, a female presidential mission engineer, an overbearing german scientist, a feisty female reporter and a straight-to-the-point military man. They'll place a few explosives, halting its descent to Earth. Then they'll go inside, find a few artifacts, and on pure accident reveal that it's a ship. Upon this revelation, the asteroid will turn into a strange diamond shaped translucent ship, and fly away to parts unknown.

Then when they make a novel about it, they completely swap everyone's personalities.

Most carry liquid oxygen to burn with the fuel in the combustion chamber, the exhaust pushes the rocket according to NII.

It's hardly rocket science

What if the commet is ust blast out of course and will hit earth!!! THAT WILL BE A LOT OF FIREWORK'S. sorry, i watch star wars and star trek too much

I had a vague idea that that was the case. Must have read something about it somewhere once.

NASA is still cool.

Igniting regular explosives in space would only create a smaller "suppressed" explosion....