After a year, Deep Space-1 will be gaining about 11,880 feet per second. It also takes a long time to slow down. The typical planetary spacecraft, which is 10,000 times more powerful, trims speed with maneuvering burns that last 20 minutes or so, says Rayman. Deep Space-1's braking maneuver will take about three months. What Deep Space-1 gives up in speed, it gains in fuel savings.
Less fuel means a smaller spacecraft and a cheaper launch vehicle.
Rayman estimates a team of 10 will be sufficient to oversee Deep Space-1, compared to about 50 for previous spacecraft. The spacecraft sports lenses to concentrate solar energy, a miniature camera and spectrometers, instruments to measure the solar wind and other prototype technologies that could cut the cost of future space expeditions. Deep Space-1 is just the first in a series of spacecraft in NASA's New Millennium program. The results will be radioed to an orbiting spacecraft and relayed back to scientists on Earth. Deep Space-2 will piggyback on NASA's Mars Polar Lander spacecraft, scheduled for launch on Jan. 3, 1999.