Twelve Chinese scientists participated in the US Deep Impact mission, the Daily Sunshine reported Tuesday.

Li Jianyang from Anhui Province was excited that he could take a share in the job.

"We did a lot of preparing since NASA approved the mission in 1998 and I feel honored to be a part of it," Li said. "There are many such aerospace projects in China. But in comparison, the United States is more advanced in space technology."

Li said Chinese scientists could learn a lot from their counterparts in the United States in fields such as orbit design and orbital calculation.

Li migrated to the United States in 1999 and is to graduate from the astronomy department of Maryland University this month. He joined the Deep Impact mission early this year.

Wu Guoxing, another Chinese scientist who is a member of the mission, migrated to the United States from Kaiping, Guangdong Province, with his parents at a young age. He was in charge of computer remote control in the project.

Wu said two women scientists in his group were also from China and there were a total of 12 Chinese in the mission.

Launched on its mission Jan. 12 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the United States, the Deep Impact spacecraft traveled 428 million kilometers to get the comet in its sights. Late Saturday, it released its copper "Impactor" probe and pointed it toward Tempel 1, 132 million kilometers from Earth. The probe made a 24-hour solo flight toward the comet, heading for a smash-up.

The camera of the probe temporarily blacked out twice, probably from being sandblasted by comet debris, NASA scientists said. Still, on battery power and tumbling toward the comet, using thrusters to get a perfect aim, it took pictures right up to the final moments.

Scientists could not immediately determine the size of the crater produced by the impact because of the large plume of ice, dust and gases streaming out and obscuring one end of the comet, which is half the size of Manhattan in New York.

"We are waiting for the outgassing to stop. It's clear it will be coming out for several hours ... and could go on for weeks," principal scientist Mike A'Hearn told reporters at a Monday news conference.

(Shenzhen Daily via agencies July 6, 2005)