Deep Space 1

In the mid-1990s, a NASA program was created at JPL called New Millennium which was designed to flight-test new technologies for future space and Earth-observing missions. The first flight project created under New Millennium was Deep Space 1, a spacecraft built to test a dozen new technologies including an ion engine.

Deep Space 1 launched from Cape Canaveral on October 24, 1998. During a highly successful primary mission, it tested 12 advanced, high-risk technologies in space. In an extremely successful extended mission, it encountered Comet Borrelly and returned the best images and other science data ever from a comet. During its fully successful hyperextended mission, it conducted further technology tests. The spacecraft was retired on December 18, 2001.

Links

• Deep Space 1 Website