On January 12, 2005, NASA launched its Deep Impact mission to crash into comet Tempel 1, also known as 9P/Tempel Discover more space history 👉 https://trib.al/zQTwOFz Two spacecraft were launched together for this mission: one was a flyby vehicle about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, and the other was an impactor the size of a coffee table. The mission would study the comet's interior by smashing into its surface and taking pictures of the impact crater and all the dust and dirt it kicked into