Honestly, I only have a 50/50 chance of hitting a moving opponent in a laser-tag match so what NASA has done really does deserve a moment of appreciation.
They sent a refrigerator-size probe 83-million miles away from Earth over a six month journey and, traveling at 23,000 miles per hour, they hit a bullseye on a comet known at Tempel 1. Keep in mind that this is a comet that they had never technically even seen when they started this mission. Based on light waves, math so far beyond my comprehension and other scientific measurements, they just assumed it was there and went after it.
We have impact!
I know the scientists are thrilled that it worked out just as they planned and the results were as good as they could hope for. I just thought it was amazing they did it at all.
In Hollywood the only comets that count are the ones about to hit the Earth and end life as we know it. We actually hit this one first. This could come in handy the next time we need to load up a tactical nuke and deliver it to one of these things before they put us in the same boat as the dinosaurs.
