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Tempel 1

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COMET

Tempel 1

The comet struck by NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft in 2005 — then revisited by Stardust-NExT.

Orbits Sun
  • First comet deliberately struck by an impactor (NASA Deep Impact, 4 July 2005).
  • Impact ejected 250,000 tonnes of dust and ice, revealing interior composition.
  • Revisited by Stardust-NExT on 14 February 2011 to image the impact crater.

Physical Properties

3 km

Orbit

Sun
3.143 AU
0.5115
10.474°
5.56 yr

Sources & Further Reading

Numerical values (radius, mass, orbital elements, temperatures) are drawn from NASA NSSDC Planetary Fact Sheets, JPL Horizons, and the JPL Small-Body Database. Last refreshed: 2026-04-18 18:19:27.

Comet 9P/Tempel 1 was the target of NASA’s Deep Impact mission, which on 4 July 2005 fired a 372-kg copper impactor into the nucleus at 10.2 km/s. The impact ejected thousands of tonnes of material, revealing a dust-rich interior with a significant water-ice component. NASA’s repurposed Stardust spacecraft (Stardust-NExT) flew past Tempel 1 on 14 February 2011 to image the impact crater — the first time a comet had been visited twice.