Delta II Rocket w/launch Pad "Deep Impact" (1:400) by DragonWings 400 Diecast Airliners
Item Number: DRW56243
Features:
- Highly detailed
- True to 1/400
- Highly collectible
- High quality diecast construction
"The USA planned to phase out all expendable launch vehicles (ELV) after the Space Shuttle entered service. However, the Challenger accident of 1986 changed all that, and the Delta program was restarted. Termed Delta II, these rockets have made nearly 150 successful launches since 1989, making it the most reliable system in service. As an ELV, each rocket can only be launched once. Among the Delta IIs missions are the launching of GPS Block II satellites, Kepler telescope, Deep Impact space probe and several Mars missions for NASA. The latter includes the Mars Phoenix lander in 2007.
The Deep Impact Mission is a NASA space probe for studying the composition of the comet interior, by releasing an impactor into the comet and then taking measurement by a flyby probe. The mission was the first to eject material from a comets surface, which gained quite large publicity from the media, international scientists and amateur astronomers.