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The Deep Impact mission was originally scheduled to blast off on 30 December from pad 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. However, concerns with the spacecraft's software postponed the launch to 8 January.
The latest problem, announced on Tuesday, slips the target launch date to 12 January, allowing workers time to replace part of the Delta vehicle that will send Deep Impact on its six-month trek to Comet Tempel 1.
The probe must launch by 28 January in order to reach its target, setting up a rendezvous on 4 July, when the mothership watches a small impactor collide with Tempel 1's icy heart at 37,000 km/hr. Scientists want to observe the pristine materials, buried in the comet, which will be revealed when a stadium-sized crater is formed.
If Deep Impact misses its launch window the spacecraft would be grounded while the mission is re-planned and a new comet is selected, possibly Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3. This comet is a much less desirable target compared to Tempel 1, because it has a smaller nucleus and dustier environment.
"If we fail to make it off by the 28th, then we have to look at other possible targets. We've done some preliminary work," said Michael A'Hearn, principle investigator on the mission. "There are other targets we can go to, we've looked at half a dozen different comets. Each of them is not as good as Tempel 1 in one way or another, which is why we do not want to delay the launch (past January)."
More info: Spaceflight Now
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