Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
News >> Technology >>
NRI who guided Deep Impact to its success
By agencies
|
Wednesday, 06 July 2005, 19:30 IST
WASHINGTON: The second generation Indian American scientist, led the navigation team of NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft that flawlessly crashed into comet Tempel 1 as part a grand project to gain insights into the origins of the solar system.
Bhaskaran worked as a navigator on several NASA missions at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) n Pasadena, California
Even so, the Deep Impact was something very special, he expressed amid widespread relief and satisfaction that everything has worked to clockwork precision.
Compared with sending a spacecraft to Jupiter, landing rovers on Mars and even Stardust's technical feats, Deep Impact presented unprecedented challenges, explained Bhaskaran.
The kind of precision needed here was unimaginable, with the impactor having to hit the comet at a speed of 23,000 miles per hour.
At such phenomenal speeds, the impactor will have to guide itself to a target nine miles long and three miles wide, while a second craft must get close enough to catch the action.
As Bhaskaran quotes: "There is little room for error. Even the smallest mistake at the last minute...you could miss it."
"With Mars and other planets, we know relatively well where the planets are. This is not the case with comets, which are not easily observed because they are small objects with gas jets. It is much harder to predict their orbits, which is why we have a little extra help from a camera on board the spacecraft," he explains.