Deep Impact

It's not the end of the world but the beginning of a new space exploration expedition. A proposed NASA mission, codenamed Deep Impact, aims to smash a 500 kilogram copper projectile into a speeding comet. Deep Impact is one of five proposals under consideration by the space agency. The winner will be launched in 2003. The copper ball will be launched from a space craft and smashed into the P/Temple comet to see what the comet is made of.