BEIJING, April 29 -- NASA's Deep Impact probe has taken its first photograph of its target Tempel 1, a comet with which the spacecraft is to collide July 4.

Deep Impact's first view of Comet Temple 1 (NASA)

    NASA released April 27 Deep Impact's first image of comet Tempel 1, snapped at a distance of 40 million miles (64 million kilometers). The photograph, showing the comet as little more than a dot, is the first of many comet portraits it will take over the next 10 weeks, said astronomer Michael A'Hearn of the University of Maryland, College Park, the mission's principal investigator.

    "With daily observations beginning in May, Tempel 1 will become noticeably more impressive as we continue to close the gap between spacecraft and comet," A'Hearn said. "What is now little more than a few pixels across will evolve by July 4 into the best, most detailed images of a comet ever taken."

    Comets are believe to contain raw materials from the birth of our solar system and scientists hope the collision will reveal secrets contained since the comet was created billions of years ago.

    Deep Impact, launched Jan. 12, is comprised of two parts, a "flyby" spacecraft and a smaller "impactor." The impactor will be released into the comet's path for a planned high-speed collision on July 4. The crater produced by the impact could range in size from the width of a large house up to the size of a football stadium and from 2 to 14 stories deep. Ice and dust debris will be ejected from the crater, revealing the material beneath.

    In addition to instruments on board the spacecraft, the impact will also be observed by NASA's Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra space telescopes, and by big telescopes on Earth.

(Agencies)