Lisa learns to hula.
	Lisa demonstrates a model of a comet.
	What Are Comets? University of Hawai'i astronomer and asteroid expert Robert Jedicke explains, "Comets are very old and very cold. They're like time capsules. Because they spend most of their time at great distances from the sun, inside they are in a state of deep freeze unchanged since the formation of the solar system 4 billion years ago. That is what makes them pristine objects that can provide answers to questions about how the solar system was formed." What Does Deep Impact Do? "Basically, we're banging on a comet the size of Honolulu with a big hammer so we can find out what's inside," Jedicke says.

Deep Impact
My Hawaiian Adventures

By Lisa, age 16

This summer, my best friend, Mara, and I departed from O'Hare International Airport for a nine-day STUDIO 2B destination adventure in the lush, beautiful Hawaiian Islands. It was a unique opportunity to experience NASA's Deep Impact event firsthand. The two of us, and nine other girls from across the country, spent time learning together, growing together, and having fun on a beautiful island.

Exploring the Culture

On the first day, we took a field trip to Coconut Island, where we participated in a blessing ceremony, ate a traditional Hawaiian dinner, learned to make different kinds of leis, and went swimming with some local Girl Scouts. We visited Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, where we got to walk on Kilauea, an active volcano, and observe the sulfur and steam vents of the Mars-like terrain. Also, we had hula lessons, a wayfinding guest speaker, and went snorkeling near a coral reef. We were, of course, given plenty of opportunities to go shopping for souvenirs.

Understanding Space

Throughout the week, we learned about space, comets, and volcanoes from NASA scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It was very interesting to hear about space science from people who actually do this for a living. It makes it so much more real and not just a childhood wish. We discussed the sun, the electromagnetic sphere, the solar system, and volcano formation.

Each lesson involved a project such as making a light spectrometer and Play-doh™ volcanoes. We were told all about Deep Impact, a probe that NASA sent up to intersect a comet. And we also received training on amateur telescopes that each group got to take home to their councils.

The Big Day

When the big day of the comet crash finally came, we were all very eager to go 9,300 feet up the mountain. We first went through a blessing ceremony to honor Pele, the goddess of the volcano. By evening, although we had set up our telescopes, it had gotten too cloudy to see anything until after the probe had impacted the comet Tempel 1. We did, however, get to see Jupiter with some blue stripes across it, some of Jupiter's moons, an orbiting satellite, and the Milky Way! We were all disappointed when it was time to go back to the university, not only because it would mean leaving this awesome sight, but also because it meant that we were almost at the end of our time together.

On July 4, our last day, we got to see the impact on the NASA website and planned out how we would share what we learned back home. Then we went back to the hotel across from Coconut Island for fireworks and our last dinner together. It was an amazing experience that I hope to share with other Girl Scouts and members of my community through my Girl Scout Gold Award project. I'm using this trip and the information I learned on it as the basis for the project.