Deep Impact: Wheaton lecture on NASA effort to examine a passing comet

An astronomer involved in a NASA project to examine the make-up of a passing comet will talk about her work during a public lecture at Wheaton College on Thursday, Oct. 28.

Dr. Lucy-Ann McFadden, professor of astronomy at the University of Maryland, will discuss the Deep Impact Discovery mission at 5 p.m. in the Science Center's Hindle Auditorium. She is co-investigator and education/outreach manager for the project. The lecture, which is part of the Puzzles in Science series, is free and open to the public.

McFadden is a leading authority in astronomy and has worked on multiple projects with NASA, including the NEAR Shoemaker mission and Project Team. With this newest endeavor, NASA hopes to obtain an intimate glimpse at the inner make-up of comet Tempel 1. Scientists are confident that the comet≠s interior materials are relatively unchanged since the formation of the solar system and will answer basic questions about the composition of comets and the creation of the solar system. The Deep Impact spacecraft is scheduled to be launched on Dec. 30, 2004.

Puzzles in Science, an on-going series of lectures, is designed to enrich the scientific studies of students and faculty, and to inform the general public on issues of interest. Framed in the form of a ≥puzzle≈ or question, the talks are geared to a general audience to encourage interest in the sciences.