Deep impact mission design

The Deep Impact mission is designed to provide the first opportunity to probe below the surface of a comet nucleus by a high-speed impact. This requires finding a suitable comet with launch and encounter conditions that allow a meaningful scientific experiment. The overall design requires the consideration of many factors ranging from environmental characteristics of the comet ( nucleus size, dust levels, etc.), to launch dates fitting within the NASA Discovery program opportunities, to launch vehicle capability for a large impactor, to the observational conditions for the two approaching spacecraft and for telescopes on Earth.