Deep Space 1

Deep Space 1, U.S. satellite designed to test technologies—including an ion engine, autonomous navigation, and miniature cameras and electronics—for use on future space missions.

Deep Space 1 was launched on Oct. 24, 1998, and entered an orbit around the Sun. On November 11 part of its mission, flybys of an asteroid and a comet, was threatened when the ion engine, which used electrical charges to repel its exhaust fluid, shut down unexpectedly only minutes after it was powered up for a test. Engineers soon determined the problem—apparently a common self-contamination effect—and started long-duration burns on November 24. On July 29, 1999, it flew past asteroid Braille. Although the probe was pointed in the wrong direction and did not obtain the high-resolution images scientists wanted, the mission was an overall success.

The primary mission of Deep Space 1 ended on Sept. 18, 1999, with a flyby of asteroid 1992 KD. Nevertheless, it was kept operational, and on Sept. 22, 2001, it successfully navigated its way past Comet Borrelly, providing excellent views of the ice particles, dust, and gas leaving comets. The spacecraft came within 2,200 km (1,400 miles) of the roughly 8 × 4-km (5 × 2.5-mile) cometary nucleus. It sent back images that showed a rough surface terrain, with rolling plains and deep fractures—a hint that the comet may have formed as a collection of icy and stony rubble rather than as a coherent solid object. From the amount of reflected light, only about 4 percent, the surface appeared to be composed of very dark matter. Cosmochemists proposed that the surface was most likely covered with carbon and substances rich in organic compounds.