NASA said Tuesday it is recycling two used spacecraft to lead new robotic missions to study comets and planets around other stars. The encore performances of the Deep Impact and Stardust probes allow the space agency to further its solar system exploration for a fraction of the cost it would take to start a mission from scratch.
Scientists plan to activate Deep Impact later this year for a two-part mission that includes collecting data on extrasolar planets to determine whether they have rings, moons or other features. Deep Impact will become an observatory looking at distant stars already known to be orbited by giant planets. After that, Deep Impact will pass the comet 85P/Boethin in December 2008.
In 2005, Deep Impact released a copper impactor that smashed into comet Tempel 1. NASA now plans to send Stardust to Tempel 1 to examine the crater created by this impact. Scientists failed to image the crater after the collision because the plume blocked the view, but they hope to get a second chance with Stardust when it flies by the comet in 2011.
NASA Gives Two Successful Spacecraft New Assignments

Deep Impact Legacy Site

Stardust – NASA’s Comet Sample Return Mission