The Comets rock for Nasa
2005-07-07 10:58
Pasadena - A day after Nasa scientists blasted a hole in a comet, The Comets struck back.
Five surviving members of the rock 'n roll band Bill Haley & The Comets paid tribute to the space agency's Deep Impact team by hosting an outdoor concert on Tuesday at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The Comets - Johnny Grande, Marshall Lytle, Dick Richards, Joey Ambrose and Franny Beecher - performed several of their greatest hits including Shake, Rattle and Roll, See You Later Alligator and Rock Around The Clock during an hourlong concert.
About 400 scientists and engineers - including dozens of Deep Impact members who spent a sleepless Fourth of July weekend on the project - danced along to the music.
The band offered to perform for free after learning about the $333m mission to send a space probe to collide with a comet 130 million kilometres from Earth.
The goal of the Deep Impact mission was to smash a crater in comet Tempel 1 to study the pristine material in its core.
Comets are considered remnants of the early solar system and studying them could provide insight into how the sun and planets formed 4.5 billion years ago.
- AP