Deep Space 1
A NASA New Millennium technology-demonstration mission that validated ion propulsion and autonomous navigation, then used them to fly past asteroid 9969 Braille and, most notably, comet 19P/Borrelly — returning some of the best comet-nucleus images of its time.
Imagery
Deep Space 1 Ion Engine
Kennedy Space Center, Florida. - Deep Space 1 is lifted from its work platform, giving a closeup view of the experimental solar-powered ion propulsion engine. The ion propulsion engine is the first non-chemical propulsi…
2002
NASA · NASA media (public domain)
This is the small-body-missions view of Deep Space 1. See its main mission page for the full profile.
Targets & sample
Mission & science
- Goals
- Flight-test ion propulsion, autonomous navigation, and other new technologies.
- Engineering milestones
- First deep-space use of an ion engine; high-resolution imaging of Borrelly's nucleus (2001).
- Science discoveries
- Borrelly's nucleus is dark and rugged with a complex, offset coma.
- Outcome
- Complete success; ion propulsion later enabled Dawn.
Knowledge connections
- VisitedBorrelly
- Member of groupFlyby Mission
- Launched byDelta II
- Operated byNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- VisitedBorrelly
- Associated withAutonomous Navigation
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.
- NASA JPLJet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics
Orbital data, ephemerides, and small-body parameters for planets, asteroids, and comets.