Deep Space 1's close encounter with the asteroid 9969 Braille should occur at 12:46 a.m. ET Thursday, although it probably will be several hours before the results of the flyby are known to project engineers and managers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
"It's a high-risk operation," said chief spacecraft engineer Marc Rayman in an interview early Wednesday. "I'm not worried about the spacecraft harming itself. It's just whether or not we'll get the pictures."
Deep Space 1 has been soaring through space since its launch on Oct. 24, 1998. The probe features 12 new-age space technologies, including an ion propulsion system, which are intended to serve as an orbital testbed for future space probes.
Designed, built and launched for $152 million, Deep Space 1 is nearing the end of its planned mission. The asteriod flyby will duplicate many tests of the probe's autonomous navigation system. The primary effect, however, might be to win an extended mission for Deep Space 1 and the chance to explore two comets in 2001. Program managers have requested funds to keep Deep Space 1 flying.
"The flyby is not a core part of what we're doing," said Rayman.
"Encountering this asteroid is a scientific bonus."
Using a sophisticated artificial intelligence software, the probe will orient itself into the proper position and operate its equipment based on how close the spacecraft is to the asteroid. For example, Deep Space 1 will have to orient its cameras and keep them pointed properly during the 35,000 mph flyby.
"It will go through all of that with us on Earth just wondering how it's going," said Rayman. "It's kind of like watching your progeny going off to face the world - or in our case, the solar system - on its own. It may not work out, but in either case we're going to learn something."
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