BAE Systems microprocessors put probe on course for first comet contact

Deep Impact will be the first space mission to make contact with a comet's surface. At 0552 GMT on Independence Day in America, the spacecraft will launch the 820-lb. projectile into the heart of the comet to reveal what is underneath its icy surface.

Traveling at 100 times the speed of a bullet, the missile is expected to punch a crater in the space rock, spraying out ice and dust. Three BAE Systems RAD750 microprocessors, designed to withstand high levels of solar radiation, will analyse the gases and debris ejected by the impact. They will also help the satellite maintain a precise position while the advanced telescopes on-board record the event.

"Nothing like this has been attempted before," said Simon Keith, Managing Director, BAE Systems Middle East. "It has been likened to a bullet trying to hit a second bullet, in the right place at the right time, at speeds and distances that are truly out of this world.

"Our RAD750 microprocessors are critical to transmitting the data back to Earth and providing scientists the first-ever look at material that has remained untouched since the birth of the universe."